The Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines today held a meeting, during which members recommended to allow children aged five to 11 to receive one-third of a dose of the BioNTech vaccine for adults.

The advisory panel noted that the application on a paediatric vial packaging for children aged five to 11 is still pending.

After reviewing the relevant published efficacy and safety data, it suggested allowing children of that age range to receive one-third of the BioNTech jab dose for adults for off-label use and to make reference to the scientific committees' recommendations for implementing the vaccination programme.

Having regard to the current and anticipated epidemic situation, the advisory panel recommended that the Government should provide the relevant information to the joint scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection for consideration on whether and how a fractional dose of the vaccine for adults should be administered to those children.

The advisory panel also reviewed all the latest clinical and safety data related to the BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines during the meeting.

It considered that no new significant safety signal was identified, though continuous monitoring was still required, adding that the benefits of the two vaccines still outweighed the risks and that there was no need to recommend changes regarding the use of these vaccines.

The panel will submit its views to the Secretary for Food & Health for consideration.

The Government said it will continue to follow up with Fosun Pharma on extending the age eligibility of the BioNTech vaccine to cover children aged five to 11, adding it will also ensure that the authorised vaccines satisfy the criteria of safety, efficacy and quality.