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The FDA has completed an assessment of a vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent human papillomavirus infection.
The organization recommends the vaccine, known as Covid-19, for children age five to 11.
The company behind the vaccine, Pfizer, is seeking FDA approval to manufacture the vaccine for this group of people. Pfizer’s market research found that about two-thirds of the people who tested positive for the virus carried an infection at age 15, and many had been infected their entire lives.
Although some people with the virus will become infected again, and others won’t, it is said to cause more than 90 percent of all cervical cancers in women.
The FDA is expected to give its approval within weeks.
Pfizer will have to set up manufacturing facilities in the United States to manufacture the vaccine. Of all the manufacturers of vaccines for the United States, the CDC estimates that only one-third are U.S.-based.
A statement issued by Pfizer on Monday said the company’s product has achieved positive results for the prevention of HPV-related genital warts in boys and girls. The company has completed initial screening of 79, 000 patients in its clinical trials for the vaccine, and has screened nearly 5 million people.
For the purposes of registering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Covid-19 is part of the HPV vaccine lineup. An HPV vaccine, Gardasil, is sold by Merck.
It is not clear when it might be available.
The FDA has approved the vaccine for girls and boys aged nine to 26.