Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine was cleared by U.S. regulators for children ages 5 to 11, a long-awaited pandemic milestone that opens a new phase of the immunization campaign.
The emergency authorization, announced Friday in a statement by the Food and Drug Administration, brings the U.S. a step closer to shots being administered at schools, pediatricians’ offices and pharmacies around the country. The formulation for young kids is one-third the dose of the adult shot.
Before youngsters can begin to receive the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee will also meet to make more specific recommendations about who should get it and how to administer it. The panel is currently scheduled to convene on Nov. 2 and 3. CDC director Rochelle Walensky will then need to sign off on the advisers’ guidance.