A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has approved Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5-11.
The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Tuesday voted 17-0, with one abstention, to back emergency-use authorization for a lower dosage of the vaccine in that age group.
If the FDA decides to formally authorize the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make additional recommendations on distribution, which could result in 28 million children nationwide becoming eligible for vaccination as early as next week.
So far during the pandemic, more than 8,300 have been hospitalized and 94 have died among children in that age group, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported, citing federal data.