June 15 (Reuters) - Advisers to the U.S Food and Drug Administration on Wednesda
y unanimously recommended the agency authorize COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna In
c (MRNA.O) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) for millions of the you
ngest American children.
6月15日（路透社）—美國食品和藥物管理局顧問週三全票通過批准Moderna和輝瑞生產的CO
VID-19疫苗，用於數百萬美國最小的兒童。
The committee's recommendation is an important step toward immunizing children u
nder the age of 5 and as young as 6 months old who have not yet been eligible fo
r the shots.
The FDA is likely to authorize the shots soon. The U.S. government is planning f
or a June 21 start to its under-5 vaccination campaign should the vaccines recei
ve FDA authorization, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said
last week.
委員會的建議是對5歲以下和6個月以下還沒有資格接種疫苗的兒童進行接種，完善COVID-19
疫苗接種的重要一步。
FDA可能很快就會批准這種疫苗。白宮COVID-19應對協調員Ashish Jha上周表示，如果疫苗
獲得FDA授權，美國政府計劃於6月21日開始5歲以下兒童接種疫苗。
COVID-19 is generally more mild in children than adults, but FDA officials told
the panel that the number of U.S. COVID deaths so far in small children - roughl
y 442 under age 5 - "compared terribly" to the 78 deaths reported during the swi
ne flu pandemic of 2019-2010.
"I think we have to be careful that we don't become numb to the number of pediat
ric deaths because of the overwhelming number of older deaths," FDA official Pet
er Marks told the panel.
COVID-19在兒童中通常比成人更輕，但FDA官員告訴該小組，到目前為止，美國兒童中COVID
-19的死亡人數——大約442名5歲以下的兒童——與2019-2010年流感大流行期間報告的78例
死亡「相比較為可怕」。
「我認為我們必須小心，不要因為年齡較大的死亡人數太多而對兒童死亡人數麻木，」FDA
官員Peter Marks告訴委員會。
Once the FDA authorizes the vaccines for the age group - 6 months to 4 years old
for Pfizer/BioNTech and 6 months to 5 years old for Moderna - the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will make its recommendations on use of
the shots in young children. A committee of the CDC's outside advisers is sched
uled to meet on Friday and Saturday.
一旦FDA批准該年齡段的疫苗——輝瑞/BioNTech的6個月至4歲，Moderna的6個月至5歲——
美國疾病控制和預防中心(CDC)將對幼兒使用該疫苗提出建議。由CDC外部顧問組成的一個委
員會定於週五和週六開會。
While many American parents are eager to vaccinate their children, its unclear h
ow strong the demand will be for the shots. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was auth
orized for children ages 5 to 11 in October, but only about 29% of that group is
fully vaccinated.
雖然許多美國父母都渴望給孩子接種疫苗，但目前還不清楚疫苗的需求會有多強烈。輝瑞和
BioNTech的疫苗於10月份被批准用於5至11歲的兒童，但這一群體中只有約29%的人接種了全
面疫苗。
Public health officials and experts say that even though a large portion of smal
l children were infected during the winter surge in cases driven by the Omicron
variant of the coronavirus, natural immunity wanes over time and vaccinations sh
ould help prevent hospitalizations and deaths when cases rise again.
公共衛生官員和專家表示，儘管很大一部分幼兒是在Omicron亞型導致的冬季病例激增期間
感染的，但隨著時間的推移，自然免疫力會減弱，接種疫苗應有助於防止病例再次上升時住
院和死亡。
The two vaccines are not interchangeable. Moderna's vaccine for children under 6
is a two-dose, 25 microgram vaccine, with the shots given about four weeks apar
t. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for the youngest children is a lower dose, 3-shot
regimen given over at least 11 weeks.
這兩種疫苗不可交換接種。Moderna針對6歲以下兒童的疫苗是兩劑25微克的疫苗，每隔四周
注射一次。輝瑞/BioNTech針對最小的兒童的疫苗是一種低劑量並注射3劑，整個接種過程至
少需11週。
Several panelists at the meeting voiced concerns that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccin
e was not substantially protective until children received the third shot, notin
g that parents might believe their children were protected while awaiting that l
ast dose.
會議上的一些專家表示，輝瑞/BioNTech的疫苗在兒童接種第三針之前並沒有實質性的保護
作用，他們指出，孩子直到最後一針時才能得到了保護。
（根據CNBC的報導，選擇接種輝瑞的孩子第三劑很重要，因為前兩劑幾乎沒什麼保護力）
心得：
總而言之兩款mRNA疫苗都通過啦，輝瑞疫苗：6個月至4歲兒童，3微克，三劑。莫德納：6個
月至5 歲兒童，25微克，兩劑。台灣大概率是會跟進的，但最後要不要打還是各位家長自己
決定，祝大家都能為自己的孩子做出最合適的選擇喔。
也可以上林氏璧醫師的粉專看看，有更詳細的解釋。我不知道這邊能不能貼FB文就不放上來
了。
原新聞網址：https://tinyurl.com/mtxftmp9