UK approves Covid vaccines for BABIES: Medical watchdog says lower-dose Pfizer jab is safe

Covid vaccines were today approved for babies in Britain, in a move likely to spark huge controversy.

Regulators gave the green light for all infants older than six months to get a special, low-dose formulation of Pfizer’s jab. 

Its decision opens the door for No10’s vaccine advisers to choose whether under-5s should be jabbed as part of the UK’s vaccination strategy.

Authorities have so far held out on recommending jabs for infants due to concerns that the benefits don’t outweigh any potential risks. Children rarely get seriously ill with the coronavirus, and the majority are thought to have already been infected.

EU health chiefs today approved Covid vaccines for babies, in a move likely to spark controversy. The Bloc’s drug watchdog gave the green light for children older than six-months to get either Pfizer or Moderna’s jab

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests Covid infections shot up 7.9 per cent in the week to November 21 after four weeks of falling. Its surveillance data, based on the random swabbing of thousands of people, shows 873,200 people were carrying the virus, up from 809,200 one week earlier

The latest Government data on vaccine uptake shows only seven per cent of people aged between five to 11 in England have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. By contrast, 94 per cent of over-90s are double-jabbed

US officials rolled out this version of Pfizer’s shot for the same age group earlier this year. And EU regulators also endorsed the use of Covid vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna for under-5s. Despite fears of winter chaos, infection rates are already beginning to slow down in many EU nations (shown in graphic)

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By November 27, 94 per cent of Britons aged 12 and over had received one jab, 89 per cent were double-jabbed and 70 per cent were boosted

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of drugs used in the UK, made the decision after reviewing data from an ongoing trial.

More than 4,500 infants were given a small 3microgram dose of the vaccine.

For comparison, adults in Britain get a dose 10 times stronger. 

Older children, who are already allowed to be vaccinated in the UK, get given a dose of up to 10micrograms. 

Lower doses are given to children to avoid complications, such as myocarditis — the rare condition that spooked health chiefs early on in the pandemic. 

The jab is given as three injections in the upper arm, with the first two doses given three weeks apart. 

A third dose is administered at least two months after the second.

The MHRA said the jab triggered common side effects ‘in-keeping with what can be anticipated from a vaccine in this age group’. 

The Commission on Human Medicines — a committee within the MHRA — endorsed approving the vaccine, after reviewing the evidence.

A separate Government group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, will decide under what circumstances it is dished out.

This could include a list of specific conditions that make children vulnerable to Covid, such as type 1 diabetes or sickle cell disease.

A spokesperson for the UK Health Security Agency said: ‘Following MHRA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for young children, aged 6 months to 4 years, the JCVI will now further consider and make its recommendation to the Health Secretary in due course.’

The same panel, consisting of the country’s top vaccinologists, recommended that five to 11-year-olds should be offered two doses of Pfizer’s jab, 12 weeks apart, but emphasised that their immunisation was ‘non-urgent’.

Meanwhile, 4,964 people testing positive were in hospital beds of November 30, up eight per cent on the previous week

Covid vaccines for children in Briton have so far been incredibly unpopular.

The latest Government data on vaccine uptake shows only seven per cent of people aged between five to 11 in England have had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

Scores of countries, including the US, China and Israel, already offer vaccines to kids under five, despite huge backlash over the moves. 

US officials rolled out this version of Pfizer’s shot for the same age group earlier this year. 

And EU regulators also endorsed the use of Covid vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna for under-5s.

Despite fears of winter chaos, infection rates are already beginning to slow down in EU nations. 

Outbreaks appear to have stalled in Germany, France and Italy, but data is much less accurate because fewer tests are being carried out.

Cases are on the rise in Britain, latest data shows.