Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has signed off on two COVID-19 vaccines for children over 6 months of age and under 5.
Millions of U.S. parents — including many of my friends with children under 5 — were crossing their fingers again this week, hoping the vaccines would soon be available for younger age groups. An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously last Wednesday to recommend that the agency authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use in very young children. On Friday and Saturday, advisers to the CDC met to discuss and voted yes unanimously.
After multiple delays in the review process of Pfizer’s vaccine, both vaccines are expected to become available early next week. The Pfizer vaccine will cover children ages 6 months through 4 years old, and the Moderna vaccine will cover children ages 6 months through 5 years old.