Washington: The US Food and Drug Administration yesterday authorised two Covid-19 vaccines for children under five, opening the door to vaccinating millions of the country’s youngest children once the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention agrees.
The FDA authorised Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged six months to four years and Moderna’s shot for those six months to 17 years. Pfizer’s is already authorised for those over the age of five.
The vaccines could be rolled out to the under-five age groups as early as next week, White House officials have said. The CDC needs to make its recommendations on how the shots should be administered before a vaccination campaign can begin in earnest.
“We will begin shipping millions of vaccine doses for children to thousands of locations parents know and trust – including paediatricians’ offices, children’s hospitals, and pharmacies,” Biden said in a statement yesterday.
“As doses are delivered, parents will be able to start scheduling vaccinations for their youngest kids as early as next week, with appointments ramping up over the coming days and weeks.”
A panel of outside advisers began meeting yesterday to consider a recommendation to the CDC on the shots for those under five years old and will vote today, likely followed by the CDC giving green light to the recommendation.
While many parents in the US are eager to vaccinate their children, it is unclear how strong demand will be for the shots. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorised for children aged five to 11 in October, but only about 29 per cent of that group is fully vaccinated so far.
Covid-19 is generally milder in children. Still, since March 2020 it has been the fifth leading cause of deaths in children aged one to four and the fourth leading cause of death in children younger than one, according to the CDC.
The CDC advisers will meet again next week to consider whether to back the use of Moderna for children aged six to 17.
“Although the number of deaths in children is small by adult standards, any death of a child is tragic and should be prevented if possible,” FDA commissioner Robert Califf said yesterday. “By vaccinating our youngest children, we hope to prevent the most devastating consequences of Covid.”
CVS Health Corp, Walmart and Rite Aid plan to provide Covid-19 vaccinations to young children in the US if the vaccines are authorised, the companies said.
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