FDA Authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids Ages 5 to 11

FDA Authorizes , Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine, for Kids Ages 5 to 11.

On October 29, the Food and Drug Administration gave authorization for Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

ABC reports the decision will now go to an advisory committee for the CDC.

ABC reports the decision will now go to an advisory committee for the CDC.

That committee will make additional recommendations regarding who should receive the vaccine.

Once CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky approves those recommendations, 28 million children ages 5-11 will become eligible to receive the vaccine.

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Once CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky approves those recommendations, 28 million children ages 5-11 will become eligible to receive the vaccine.

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The FDA's decision comes days after an advisory committee voted in favor of the recommendation for children.

The committee's vote capped off a debate regarding the potential risks and benefits of the shots for younger children.

According to ABC, advisers voiced concerns about unknown rates of myocarditis and whether children even need protection from COVID-19.

It’s always nerve-wracking, I think, when you’re asked to make a decision for millions of children based on studies of only a few thousand children, Dr. Paul Offit, committee member and vaccine researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, via NBC.

It’s always nerve-wracking, I think, when you’re asked to make a decision for millions of children based on studies of only a few thousand children, Dr. Paul Offit, committee member and vaccine researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, via NBC.

The benefits of this option far outweigh the known risks.

We certainly cannot anticipate all the risk ahead, but we know we have systems in place that can help us do that, Oveta Fuller, committee member and associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan, via NBC