The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late Tuesday endorsed the use of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech's (NASDAQ: BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, making the shots available to about 28 million kids in the United States.
"Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation's fight against the virus that causes COVID-19. We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a press statement. "As a mom, I encourage parents with questions to talk to their pediatrician, school nurse or local pharmacist to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting their children vaccinated."
The CDC's decision follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) emergency use authorization for the age group, as well as overwhelming endorsements from both federal health agency's independent vaccine advisory panels.
Pfizer-BioNTech said its low-dose vaccine for children--which is about a third of the dosage given to adolescents and adults--is nearly 91% effective in preventing symptomatic infection. The companies also found that the vaccine was well tolerated in younger Americans, with side effects being comparable to those seen in a study of people between the ages of 16- to 25-years-old.
Currently, COVID-19 is the eighth-highest cause of death for children between the ages of 5- to 11-years-old over the last year, CNBC reports. Moreover, nearly 6.3 million children have tested positive for COVID since the start of the pandemic as of Oct. 12, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The CDC said that COVID-19 vaccine have undergone--and will continue to undergo--the most intensive safety monitoring in the nation's history. Vaccinating children, which is the next step to the nation's ongoing fight against the pandemic, will help protect younger Americans from infection, therefore reducing their risk of severe disease, hospitalization, developing long-term COVID-19 complications, or death.
Some health experts hope that vaccinating younger age groups will help the U.S. move towards an endemic phase of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that the virus will still be circulating across the country but at much lower levels due to higher vaccination levels.
The Biden administration announced recently that is has already procured enough Pfizer-BioNTech doses to vaccinate all 28 million 5- to 11-year-olds in the U.S. The White House plans to roll out the first 15 million shots the first week after the vaccine is authorized for emergency use, meaning that children should be able to access vaccines as soon as next week.