FDA advisory approves vaccines for kids 5-11 - a question

The Quarantine Zone
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Advisory committee recommends vaccine for 5-11.. Not the last hurdle, but we’re almost there.

My question: Per the article, the kids’ dose will be 10mcg as opposed to 30mcg for adults. Does that mean that all new products will have to be packaged, or can they just draw 1/3rd the amount from the doses on hand? I’m really we don’t have to wait for production lines to be retooled for this.

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I’ll try to find a cite, but I read earlier that it will be different needles and different vials. I think it is mostly because they don’t want to be drawing both kid doses and adult doses out of the same vials. Hopefully, they’ve been setting this all up in anticipation.

ETA: Mostly finding paywalled stuff, but this site talks about it at the middle and near the bottom

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They may package it differently, but I suspect that it will just be a matter of how the pharmacy purchases it. I mean, if it’s the same drug, just a different dosage, I don’t know that the manufacturer could prevent anyone licensed to administer it from drawing it up from a differently packaged vial.

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The size of the needle may also mean shorter needles to help make sure the vaccine gets to the right place.

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I read that they have already been packaging it for kids, in smaller batches, suitable for a pediatrician’s office, with smaller needles. The packages can be kept in a regular fridge for a reasonable length of time, so long as the individual container isn’t opened.

Hang on, maybe i can find a link…

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Me too. And that they anticipate children will be getting it at their pediatricians’ offices or drug stores, and there will not be mass vaccination sites set up.

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The CDC table of vaccine codes shows the only product for 5-12 year olds (edit: at least from Pfizer, as of this post) is a 10 mcg/0.2 mL product packaged differently than what’s already out there. It’s a different concentration than the 30 mcg/0.3 mL used for adults. It also has a tris-sucrose buffer, rather than phosphate.

CDC table:

Tris-sucrose vs. phosphate:

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Thanks all, especially this last answer.

I hope there’s no logistical delay getting this thing packaged and distributed. My family is ready, as I’m sure many others are.