Pfizer: Booster increases antibodies in 5-11 age group
The child dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is prepared in Island Park last year. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A COVID-19 vaccine booster shot dramatically increases the number of antibodies that children 5 to 11 produce against the coronavirus, according to data released Thursday by Pfizer-BioNTech.
The companies will use that data to ask the federal Food and Drug Administration “in the coming days” to authorize boosters for children in that age group, according to a news release.
Pfizer-BioNTech found that the booster greatly increased antibody levels against the omicron variant that — with its subvariants, including BA.2 — is now dominant, and against previous strains, compared with children who only received the initial two doses.
Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said that based on the Pfizer-BioNTech news release — a formal study was not released and data hasn’t been peer-reviewed — research shows that boosters created "a very high level of antibodies.
"It should provide much more protection against omicron infection and certainly against severe disease," Handel said of the booster, adding that the results from Pfizer-BioNTech are “not terribly surprising.”
”It’s consistent with everything we’ve seen with adults in other booster studies,” he said.
Dr. Leonard Krilov, an infectious disease specialist and chief of pediatrics at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola, said if the FDA authorizes the booster, he would recommend that parents get it for their children “given that it’s safe and given that [COVID-19 infection] numbers are starting to increase again."
“There’s enough data to support it,” he said.
The FDA typically takes about four weeks after receiving data to make a decision, unless further clarification is needed, he said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one authorized for children under 12.
Pfizer-BioNTech found that, as with adults and older children, the booster isn't as effective against omicron as it is against earlier strains.
But nearly 37 times more antibodies were produced against omicron one month after a booster dose compared with just the first two doses, Pfizer-BioNTech found.
The study was based on blood samples of 140 children ages 5 to 11. The blood was exposed to the virus in the lab, Handel said. Thirty of the blood samples were tested against omicron, Pfizer-BioNTech said. All the samples were tested against previous strains.
Recent studies have shown that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are much less effective in preventing infection from omicron in children 5 to 11 than in adolescents or adults, although limited data shows it still significantly reduces the chance of hospitalization.
“Knowing that the vaccine was not as effective against omicron with only two doses is only more reason to get our kids boosted,” Handel said.
The dose for children 5 to 11 — both in the initial two shots and in the booster — is one-third that of those 12 and older, which likely explains the reduced effectiveness, he said.
The newly released Pfizer-BioNTech findings looked at antibody response a month after receiving the booster. Handel said there’s no need to wait to look at months more data before asking the FDA to determine whether to authorize a booster.
"It’s expected it will wane over time,” Handel said of antibody levels.
Even more important than getting boosters for already-vaccinated children is getting the initial two doses into the arms of kids, Krilov said. Fewer than a third of Long Island children ages 5 to 11 have received two doses, according to state Department of Health data.
More than 41,000 children have been hospitalized with COVID-19 as of April 7 in the 25 states for which data was available, and 966 children have died of the disease in 46 states and two territories, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Meanwhile, state data released Thursday shows that the COVID-19 positivity rate on Long Island continues to rise.
The region's seven-day positivity rate rose above 5% for the first time since early February on Wednesday, to 5.21%. The state as of April 4 no longer includes rapid tests in its positivity rate, although state officials said there is little difference in positivity rates of rapid and PCR test results.
The number of hospitalizations also rose, to 175 on Wednesday, the highest number since March 10.
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David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
