Fauci says vaccine OK for 12 to 15 likely soon

Approval of Pfizer inoculation for kids expected in ‘days’

The Food and Drug Administration is likely to issue an emergency authorization for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 years old “within several days,” White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

“I think it is going to be very soon,” Fauci told NBC News. “I mean, I don’t want to get ahead of the FDA, but I believe it is going to be within several days. I cannot imagine it is going to be much longer than that.”

Pfizer Inc. Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a conference call Tuesday that he expected the announcement “shortly.” The company has said it plans to submit additional requests for kids ages 2 to 5 years old and those ages 5 to 11 by September, after completing studies on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine for children.

If the FDA grants the authorization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel is expected to meet shortly thereafter and make recommendations for how the vaccine could be distributed to adolescents. That would pave the way for a significant expansion of a U.S. vaccine effort that is seeing reduced demand as many of the country’s most vulnerable and eager residents have already received at least their first shot.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that once authorization comes, the U.S. was ready to “immediately move to make about 20,000 pharmacy sites across the country ready to vaccinate those adolescents.”

He said the federal government would ship vaccines directly to pediatricians.