Parents could soon be given the choice to vaccinate their babies against Covid after Britain’s health regulator gave the green light to a jab today.
A Pfizer vaccine for children aged six months to four years old has been authorised by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
But Britain’s young won’t be offered the jab until the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) agrees too.
It’s uncertain whether they will do this, given children rarely get seriously ill with coronavirus.
One in 300,000 children die after testing positive, according to UK Government data.
It comes as cases across the UK top a million again, with infections rising in England for the first time since mid-October.
But this is far below numbers seen earlier in 2022 – with infections surging to nearly four million in July and just under five million in March.
The new vaccine, also created by BioNTech, was deemed safe and effective based on an ongoing clinical trial involving 4,526 participants.
People involved were given three micrograms – a lower dose than the up to 10 micrograms used for children aged 5 to 11 years old.
For comparison, adults in Britain get a dose 10 times stronger.
The MHRA said the jab triggered common side effects ‘in-keeping with what can be anticipated from a vaccine in this age group’.
If it did go ahead, children aged six months to four years old would receive the jab in three separate injections in the upper arm.
The first two would be given three weeks apart, before a third dose is administered at least two months after the second dose.
It comes after American officials rolled out the same vaccine for the same age group earlier this year.
Data from the companies in August suggested it was 73.2% effective in preventing coronavirus among children aged 6 months to four years.
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