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Pfizer announced Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall. Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic — and helping schools, at least the upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption. (Neergaard, 3/31)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company plans to submit the new data on the vaccine, which is developed in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech, to the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators “as soon as possible,” with the hope that kids in the age group will be able to get vaccinated before the next school year. “We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15,” Bourla said in a press release. (Lovelace Jr., 3/31)

Pfizer Inc. PFE -1.39% and partner BioNTech SE BNTX 8.89% plan to begin soon testing a freeze-dried version of its Covid-19 vaccine, which if proven to work safely could ease storage and handling of the shots in rural U.S. areas and low-income countries. In April, Pfizer is set to start a clinical trial evaluating a so-called lyophilized formulation in adults 18 to 55 years old in the U.S., according to a government database, clinicaltrials.gov, and confirmed by the company. The 1,100-subject study would last about two months, with researchers seeking to determine whether the lyophilized version is as safe and effective as the version authorized by regulators beginning late last year. Researchers would administer to subjects either the lyophilized version or the current formulation. (Hopkins, 3/30)

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is indispensable right now. As one of the first vaccines out of the gate, it’s been at the center of the World Health Organization’s plan to roll out some 2 billion doses to 92 nations by the end of the year. It’s also one of just a handful of vaccines that are already being produced and distributed on such a massive scale that they might change the near-term course of the pandemic. That’s why the past few weeks have felt so catastrophic. (Bastian, 3/30)

German health officials agreed Tuesday to restrict the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in people under 60, amid fresh concern over unusual blood clots reported in a tiny number of those who received the shots. Health Minister Jens Spahn and state officials agreed unanimously to only give the vaccine to people aged 60 or older, unless they belong to a high-risk category for serious illness from COVID-19 and have agreed to take the vaccine despite the small risk of a serious side-effect. The same option will be available to anyone who gets the shot at their GP, which will start to become possible later this month. (Jordans, 3/30)

Dec. 11, 2020. I consider that my first official day as a participant in the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine clinical trial.I’d volunteered a month earlier and gone in twice before but that’s the day I finally got the jab. Months would pass before I knew for sure whether I’d been given saline or a real therapeutic. I drove home with a long list of instructions and a host of mixed feelings. (Newsome, 3/31)

A growing chorus of advocates wants to weaken some of the intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, which they say will quickly expand global supplies. But critics say the move wouldn't work, and would set a bad precedent. The Biden administration is evaluating the idea, including whether it would work as intended. (Owens, 3/30)