The US Food and Drug Administration’s independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is The Moderna vaccine is authorized for use in adults, but on Tuesday, the advisers will discuss including children 6 through 17; on Wednesday, they will consider expanding the authorization to infants and children ages 6 months through 5.The However, shots can’t be given until the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisers have voted on whether to recommend them and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has signed off on the recommendation. The White House has said vaccines for the youngest children could start next week.The rollout of vaccines for this group could mirror that for older children, as pediatricians’ offices will play a significant role in helping get shots into arms.Some in-pharmacy clinics also are preparing to administer more vaccines.”We plan to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to children 18 months through four years of age at our national network of 1,100 MinuteClinic locations once the FDA and CDC have provided guidance and inventory is received,” CVS spokesperson Matt Blanchette said in an emailed statement Monday. “Our MinuteClinic clinicians comprised of board-certified Family Nurse Practitioners, Physician Associates, and Nurses, have significant experience providing vaccinations to a younger population as well as private exam rooms, which will make the process easier for kids, parents, and guardians,” the statement says.Children under 5 typically have lower Covid-19 case rates than other age groups. But in the first week of June, hospitalization rates among these kids were slightly higher than among adults under the age of 50 and four times higher than those of other children. At least 481 US children under the age of 5 have died of Covid-19, according to the One trial included more than 4,500 children ages 6 to 23 months and 2 to 4 years. Some got three 3-microgram shots, with the second shot coming three weeks after the first and the third shot given at least eight weeks after the second. The rest got a placebo.The FDA briefing document says the Pfizer vaccine for this age group induced responses comparable to what has been seen in 16- to 25-year-olds. There weren’t enough Covid-19 cases to establish vaccine efficacy in the study, but the FDA noted that this vaccine is known to …
FDA advisers to weigh expanding Covid-19 vaccines to younger children – CNN
