Pfizer says booster in 5-11 year olds increases antibodies against omicron

On Thursday, the company said a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine increased antibody levels in children 5 to 11 years old.

The additional injection, given six months after the two main doses, resulted in a sixfold increase in antibodies against the original strain of coronavirus.

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The booster dose clinical trial included 140 children aged 5 to 11. In a smaller analysis of 30 children in the trial, Pfizer said the additional dose resulted in a thirty-fold increase times the number of antibodies against the omicron variant of the virus.

Pfizer published the test results in a news release. The data has not yet been made available to outside scientists for review.

Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children 5-11 years old has a smaller dose than the vaccine for people 12 years and older: 10 micrograms, compared with 30 micrograms. The booster shot is also 10 micrograms.

In February, researchers from the New York State Department of Health report that two doses of Pfizer vaccine provide little protection against infection in children in this age group, with vaccine effectiveness dropping to 12% in December and January.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later reported that two pediatric doses were still strongly protective against serious Covid outcomes, including hospitalization and death.

In that report, the CDC researchers said the omicron variation was the reason the shots’ protection was so low. The omicron wave leads to a record number of cases in childrencompared to previous periods.

Less than 30 percent of children 5 to 11 years old have received two doses of the vaccine, according to new data from CDC.

Pfizer said it plans to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration in the coming days for emergency use authorization. Currently, Pfizer boosters are only for people 12 years of age and older.

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