CDC Panel Unanimously Recommends Covid Vaccine for Kids 5 and Younger

A panel of CDC advisers unanimously recommended the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children aged five and younger on Saturday, one day after the FDA authorized the shots for infants and very young children. Doses could be available for the age group as early as Tuesday.

The recommendation goes now to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who is expected to quickly sign off on it. The language goes just a step farther than the FDA’s in saying it is not just approved but recommended that parents get their children vaccinated, MSNBC reports.

Here’s more from The New York Times.

The advisers were all but guaranteed to vote yes, despite reservations about the paucity of data, especially regarding the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Earlier this week, another panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration unanimously backed the vaccines.

Federal regulators have authorized the Moderna vaccine for children ages 6 months through 5 years, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 6 months through 4 years. (Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine has been available to children ages 5 and older since November.)

In the course of a two-day meeting, the C.D.C.’s advisers heard evidence supporting the effectiveness of the vaccines in the youngest children. But the committee repeatedly pressed Pfizer on its estimates and noted that three doses of that vaccine would be needed to protect children, compared with two doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Both vaccines are safe, and both produced antibody levels similar to those seen in young adults. But on Saturday, the C.D.C. panel wrestled with the difficulty of recommending two very different vaccines for the same population.

UPDATE: Dr. Walensky endorsed the panel’s unanimous vote.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, endorsed a scientific panel's decision on Saturday to recommend Covid vaccines for children ages 5 and under. https://t.co/wtj0TvPOT5 pic.twitter.com/8oPsmFRNJz

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 18, 2022

This story may be updated.