Covid vaccines: FDA panel approves Pfizer jabs for children 5 and up

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Covid vaccines: FDA panel approves Pfizer jabs for children 5 and up

Paediatric doctors could soon find themselves on the front lines of a US government plan to get some 28 million school-aged children in line for their coronavirus jabs.

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Advisory boards to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday decided that the benefits of jabbing children between five and 11 years old with the Pfizer vaccine outweigh any other health risks.

The decision now awaits further approval from the full FDA and CDC. Both agencies are expected to follow the vaccine panel's recommendation.

Data from the company's clinical trials found that a paediatric dose of the vaccine - one third of that given to adults and adolescents - was safe and 90% effective.

If health officials approve the jab, 15 million doses will go out to paediatric offices, children's hospitals and pharmacies around the country.


When could jabs for kids get final approval?
Following the FDA independent advisory committee's green light on Tuesday, the CDC is expected to follow suit on 2 November, meaning jabs for five-year-olds could begin as soon as a day later.

The Pfizer vaccine is already approved for American adults and adolescents, but it has not yet been fully approved for most school-aged children.

Among those between five and 11 years old, there have been about 1.8 million Covid cases confirmed in the US, according to the CDC. Fewer than two hundred have died, and most of those had underlying medical conditions.

Some medical experts say that, given the persistence of the Delta variant and the return to in-person schooling, vaccinating children is a crucial next step in fighting the pandemic.


What kind of opposition does it face?
Vaccine hesitancy remains a challenge for US medical authorities. Uptake in the adult population has stalled below 60% over the past several months.

Only a third of parents in a poll last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would get their children vaccinated "right away". Another third said they would like to "wait and see".

Some parents have expressed concern about hundreds of cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, that have been reported predominantly in young adults who took the vaccine, mostly after the second jab.