CDC gives green light to Pfizer vaccine shots for kids 5-11

U.S. health officials Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size COVID19 shot, a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign.

The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 — doses just a third of the amount given to teens and adults.

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines.

The announcement by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer’s shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group.

Millions of shots made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have already been shipped to states, doctors’ offices and pharmacies.

Walensky’s decision marks the first opportunity for Americans under 12 to get the powerful protection of any COVID-19 vaccine.

“Today is a monumental day in the course of this pandemic,” Walensky told the advisory panel earlier Tuesday.

She said while the risk of severe disease and death is lower in young children than adults, it is real — and that COVID-19 has had a profound social, mental health and educational impact on youngsters, including widening disparities in learning.

“There are children in the second grade who have never experienced a normal school year,” Walensky said. “Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change all of that.”

In the U.S., there have been more than 8,300 hospitalizations of kids ages 5 to 11, according to government data. The CDC has recorded 94 deaths in that age group.

While the U.S. has seen a recent downturn in COVID-19 cases, experts are worried about another uptick with holiday travel and as winter sends more activity indoors where it’s easier for the virus to spread.

Pfizer’s kid shots contain a third of the vaccine dose that’s already been used to vaccinate millions of people 12 and older. The 5- to 11-year-olds will receive two shots, three weeks apart, the same schedule as everyone else — but a smaller amount in each shot, using a smaller needle.