CNN
—
Covid-19 vaccinations for children younger than 5 are beginning Tuesday across the United States, marking a milestone in the nation’s fight against the disease.
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorizations for Moderna’s vaccine to include children 6 months through 17 years and Pfizer/BioNTech’s for children 6 months through 4 years.
Then on Saturday, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on Covid-19 vaccinations for children under 5, clearing the way for vaccinations to be administered in that age group.
About 17 million kids under the age of 5 are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccines.
“This is a big day. We’ve been waiting a long time for children to have access to the vaccine. We now have every age group, 6 months and above, in the country which is now eligible to get protection from the Covid-19 vaccine. And I’ll tell you as a dad of a 4-year-old, this is a big deal for my family as well,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday morning.
Vaccines given in child-sized doses
Under the FDA’s authorization, the Moderna vaccine can be given as a two-dose primary series, with doses given four weeks apart, at 25 micrograms each dose, to infants and children 6 months through 5 years of age.
While the FDA has authorized Moderna’s vaccine for children ages 6 to 17, the CDC has not yet recommended it for that age group, so those shots can’t be administered yet. The FDA authorization would allow children ages 6 to 11 to receive doses are 50 micrograms each. For those ages 12 and older, it would be administered as 100-microgram doses.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine now can be given as a three-dose primary series, at 3 microg …