Topline
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines for young children, a step that could clear the way for the FDA to approve shots for the youngest Americans more than two years into the pandemic.
A nurse shows the vial of the Moderna Covid vaccine.
Key Facts
The Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 21-0 to recommend authorization of both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine, which they found provided safe and effective protection against Covid for young children.
Moderna’s two-dose vaccine is for children 6 months to 5 years, while Pfizer’s three-dose vaccine is for children 6 months to 4 years of age.
Several steps remain before the vaccine will be available to young children, but the FDA typically follows the panel’s recommendations, although it does not have to.
Vaccines for the age group could be available as soon as early next week, White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha said last week.
What To Watch For
The FDA will decide in the next few days whether to grant emergency use authorization to the vaccines. Then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to vote this weekend on whether to recommend the shots, followed by a final vote from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
Key Background
While children are less likely to become severely ill with Covid compared to adults, the Omicron variant left some children more vulnerable to severe disease: Children ages 0 to 4 were hospitalized five times more during the peak of Omicron in December 2021 compared to the period when Delta was the predominant coronavirus strain, according to the CDC. But polls suggest not every parent plans to rush to get their young child a shot: Only about a fifth of those surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation in May said they would vaccinate their children as soon as the shot becomes available, while 38% said they would “wait and see” how the vaccine goes for other young children first. The FDA announced last week it found Pfizer’s vaccine to be safe and effective for children under 5. The FDA panel endorsement comes a day after the same committee voted unanimously to approve Moderna’s Covid vaccine for children and teens ages 6 to 17. Pfizer’s vaccine has been available to that age group since last year.
Further Reading
FDA panel endorses Covid vaccine for youngest children (NBC News)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/06/15/moderna-and-pfizer-covid-vaccines-for-young-children-endorsed-by-fda-panel/