Scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously to recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old Tuesday, according to a New York Times article.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, must approve this recommendation before children in this age range can receive vaccinations. If Walensky approves the recommendation, vaccinations can begin as soon as this week, according to the article.
Walensky cautioned that while many are eager for vaccine expansion, this is just one thing individuals can do to protect their children and their community.
“It is important that we also continue to vaccinate as many adults as possible to provide protection to children in the community,” Walensky said during the CDC panel meeting.
This follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization of the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 Friday, according to a news release.
The authorization was widely anticipated and comes after an FDA advisory panel voted unanimously to recommend the vaccine for the age group Tuesday.
There may be planning between the federal government and hospitals for the vaccine administered to newly eligible children, according to the article from IU Today.
FDA’s authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for young children comes a week after the CDC agreed with the CDC Advisory Committee on immunization practices to recommend an additional booster shot to select groups of individuals.
