“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
On October 12, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a shortage of a drug formulation of amphetamine mixed salts, commonly referred to by the brand name Adderall. Adderall is an FDA approved drug for the treatment of narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including anger, anxiety, forgetfulness and trouble focusing.1 Adderall […]
On Oct. 12, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the COVID bivalent booster versions of messenger RNA (mRNA) Comirnaty and Spikevax biologics developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna/NIAID for children as young as five or six years old, respectively. The FDA’s decision on Aug. 31 to grant […]
One Oct 29, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 biologic BNT162b2 for children five to 11 years old. The FDA’s decision, which is based on a clinical trial earlier this year involving 2,268 kindergartners and elementary school-aged kids and an […]
On Oct. 20, 2021, the Biden administration outlined plans to begin giving COVID-19 vaccinations to children between five and 11 years old. Pending the results of reviews of the plan by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) over the […]
Opinion | I monitor meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted Pfizer/BioNTech to distribute its experimental mRNA vaccine in […]
Pharmaceutical and medical device giant Johnson & Johnson, Inc. (J&J) announced on Feb. 28, 2021 plans to test its experimental Ad26.COV2.S vaccine for COVID-19 on infant children (including newborns), pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems. J&J did not include infants, pregnant women or the immunocompromised in the U.S. population in clinical trials on […]
On Dec. 10, 2020, American biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., which is pioneering the development of experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, gave a 12-year old a dose of the company’s mRNA-1273 vaccine in a Phase 2/3 study of the new vaccine. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said, “Our goal is to generate data in the […]
On Oct. 14, 2020, Pfizer, Inc. of New York City, New York announced it had received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enroll children in the Phase 3 human clinical trial on its experimental messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) BNT162b1 vaccine for COVID-19. The trial, which last month was expanded to include adolescent […]
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is asking federal officials to include children in COVID-19 vaccine trials.1 On September 29, 2020, Sara Goza, MD, president of the AAP, wrote a letter addressed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Steven Hahn, MD stating, […]
Under an amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP), pharmacists and pharmacy interns in the United States are now permitted to administer vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to children over three years of age.1 Currently, there are 28 states that allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations to […]