Coronavirus: UAE approves emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between 12 and 15

The Ministry of Health and Prevention says the approval was given after the country carried out successful clinical trials

The Al Hosn app can be used as official proof of vaccination, to show negative PCR test status, to travel and to enter certain live events.

Asha Susan Philip, a nurse with Dubai Health Authority, receives the Pfizer vaccine. On Tuesday, Abu Dhabi also approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in the emirate.

A child, 9, is held by her mother as she receives the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine during a clinical trial for children at Duke University in the US. In the UAE, those who are 16 and above are eligible to receive the vaccine.

The Pfizer vaccine will be available at select clinics in Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafrah, by appointment only.

A boy receives an injection during a trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine among children aged between 12 and 15, at Duke University in the US.

Last week, Dubai Health Authority said recovered patients and breastfeeding mothers are now eligible for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Pfizer received emergency approval in the UAE in December after trials showed it was 95 per cent effective. Dubai started distributing it in December and the vaccine is now available in the capital.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the second Covid-19 vaccine to be made available in Abu Dhabi, which began a mass vaccine campaign in mid-December using a shot produced by Chinese company Sinopharm.

The UAE approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 on an emergency basis.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said on Thursday the approval was given after the country carried out successful clinical trials and assessments.

The approval supports the national efforts to fight the pandemic and protect children in this age group.

The UAE has provided over 11 million vaccine doses to citizens and residents, and the country aims to vaccinate all eligible adults by the end of 2021.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was recently cleared for use in adolescents between 12 and 15 in the US after a trial showed it was safe and 100 per cent effective.

In late March, the company embarked on a global study to test its vaccine on children aged six months to two years, two years to five years, and five years to 11 years.

The findings from phase one will help to decide the dosage level for later stages.

In phases two and three, the company will study the immune response in children, the tolerance level in each age group and possible side effects.

Data on the age group 5 to 11 is expected as early as this summer, the company said.

If the trials go well, young children could be vaccinated by the end of the year, BioNTech co-founder and chief medical officer Dr Ozlem Tureci said.

“We expect the data at the end of the summer or autumn of this year. We will then file it with the regulators and, depending on how fast they react, by the end of the year we might get approval to also immunise younger children,” she said.