Australia eyes Pfizer’s Covid vaccines for kids aged 5 to 11

Primary school children could return to the classroom by the end of the year if the vaccine is approvedy health officials.

Access to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine could open up to Australian primary school aged children by the end of this year, with GPs the preferred option for a quicker rollout.

Australian health officials have confirmed if approved the vaccine would be made widely available to children aged five to 11, after promising trial results showed a strong immune response and no dangerous reactions when the age group was given two Pfizer vaccines about a third of the normal adult dosage.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has invited Pfizer to apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration for approval to use the vaccine in children aged five to 11, confirming they would be given the jab as a “priority” if recommended.

Chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan said the TGA process had already worked “very efficiently” to approve vaccines for children aged 12 to 15.

“So based on when the application (from Pfizer) is received, and the data is submitted ... it is possible that we will see (approval) this year,” she said.

Ms McMillan said Australia had a strong child vaccination program, and indicated this would be the preference over using schools initially to roll out the jab.

“The likelihood is we will see it (rolled out) through general practice through a range of options,” she said.

Ms McMillan said if the vaccine was approved for younger children she was confident there would be a huge uptake among five to 11-year-olds.

However, Ms McMillan said the prospect of child vaccination was not a reason to delay the returning to school or other reopening measures under the national plan.

“I think that we all understand the importance of getting children back to school, we’ve seen the challenges that parents and families have faced,” she said.

“If the vaccine becomes available that will be an additional measure.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is well placed to administer the vaccine to children. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech has completed a trial of almost 2,300 American children aged between five and eleven, which found the jab was “safe, well tolerated and showed robust neutralising antibody responses” among the age group.

In a statement the companies said a month after two doses a third of the size of those given to adults, the children had antibody levels comparable to those seen in 16 to 25-year-olds in previous trials, which were assumed to signal good protection.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said should the vaccine be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia, the vaccine would be rolled out to the younger age group as a “priority” using supplies arriving this year.

Mr Hunt on Tuesday wrote to Pfizer officials to invite the company to apply for approval in Australia for the vaccine to be administered to children aged over five.

“I am heartened by your advice that trials of the Pfizer vaccine are showing promise in

children under the age of 12 years of age,” Mr Hunt said in the letter.

“I note the announcement that Pfizer International is now intending to apply for regulatory approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 12.

“I encourage and invite Pfizer to submit a parallel application to the TGA for Australian regulatory approval at the earliest possible time.”

Mr Hunt said Austarlia was “well placed” to deliver the vaccine to children under the age of 12, as the country was expecting a total of 40 million Pfizer doses by the end of 2021.

“I note that that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) would also need to consider vaccination in this age cohort,” he said.

“Should the ATAGI also approve vaccination of this age cohort, vaccination would commence as a priority.”

Mr Hunt said Australia was also well placed to receive booster vaccines in the event that these are also approved by the TGA and recommended by the ATAGI.