CDC advisers approve smaller-dose COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11
Kids got the nod to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 jab on Tuesday, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisers voted unanimously to authorize smaller-dosed shots for children aged 5 to 11.
The 14-0 vote, which CDC Director
Dr. Rochelle Walensky was expected to sign off on, means that inoculations can begin as soon as Wednesday. It does not mandate inoculation, but rather simply declares it safe.
Approval had long been anticipated, and medical professionals have encouraged it as the delta variant encroached on younger populations once thought to be immune to the coronavirus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the shots, which are one-third the size of those given to adults, for emergency use last week.
Walensky opened Tuesday’s 11 a.m. meeting with a strong plea for approval.
“We have been asking when we will be able to expand this protection to our younger children,” she told the committee. “As you will all be aware, in this most recent delta wave, we saw pediatric admission rates higher than they had in any previous wave of the pandemic, reaching a rate of 25 hospitalizations per 100,000 per year in children between the ages of 5 to 11.”
She also urged them to “keep in mind the specific risks to children from this virus and the pandemic, and to put that risk into context of other vaccinepreventable diseases,” Walensky said, according to CNN.
Since the pandemic began early last year, 1.9 million children in that age range have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, 8,300 of them have been hospitalized, and 94 have died, the presenters said. In addition 2,316 have come down with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is when body parts including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs become inflamed, as the CDC defined it.
After several hours of presentations about trials, clinical results and other information from specialists in the field, pediatric groups voiced their support for approval. Representatives of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and other groups voiced support for the measure.
They pointed out the benefits beyond protecting children from contracting COVID-19 itself. Vaccinating kids will enable them to return to school anxietyfree; will protect more vulnerable family members; and will reduce community transmission and likely prevent postCOVID conditions, hospitalization and death.
Those with concerns were also recognized, as noted by CDC Work Group Chair Dr. Matthew F. Daley.
“We must recognize that there are parents out there with concerns,” he said, noting that given the plethora of misinformation out there, “It’s understandable that you have questions and concerns.”
Other panel members emphasized the same, noting that the recommendation was meant to reassure the public that the vaccines have been fully vetted and that they were confident in giving them to their own children and grandchildren.
White House coronavirus czar Jeff Zients said Monday that the government has enough of the Pfizer vaccine for all 28 million children in the 5-11 age group. The regimen is the same as for adults and older children, two shots three weeks apart.
The White House has already started mobilizing doses so that they’re ready to be administered at pediatricians’ offices, clinics and pharmacies.