Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday that COVID-19 vaccine data for children ages 5 to 11 will be ready to be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration within days.
“I think we are going to submit this data any day, so it’s a question of days, not weeks, and then it’s up to the FDA to be able to review the data and come to their conclusions,” Bourla told ABC TV’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos.
Bourla said the company is prepared to start producing the vaccine immediately.
The children in the trials received two doses of their specially formulated vaccine — or what amounted to about “one-fifth” of the size of the immunization given to the general population, Bourla said.
“If [government regulators] approve it, we will be ready with our manufacturing to provide this new formulation of the vaccine because the vaccine that the kids will receive … is a different formulation,” Bourla said.
Currently, only people ages 12 and older are currently able to get vaccinated with Pfizer’s vaccine.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are only approved for adults ages 18 and older.
Around 13 million children under the age of 18, or around 55 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics analysis of CDC data as of Sept. 22.
Meanwhile, the Pfizer chief reiterated that he expects annual COVID shots for everyone may be needed down the road.
“I think the most likely scenario is annual vaccination,” Bourla said. “But we don’t know, really, we need to wait and see the data.”
He added that he expects life to return to “normal” in the coming months.
“Within a year, I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” Bourla said.
Still, “I don’t think that this means that the variants will not continue coming, and I don’t think that this means that we should be able to live our lives without having vaccinations,” he said. “But that, again, remains to be seen.”
