The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory board recommended approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for children over 6 months of age.
This development means that nationwide distribution of vaccines for young children could most likely begin next week.
The advisory board’s recommendation, taken by 12 votes to 0, must also be approved by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. After approval, the US government will be able to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 years old.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccines developed by Moderna for children aged 6 months to 5 years and Pfizer for children aged 6 months to 4 years. Pfizer’s vaccine for children over the age of 5 was also previously approved.
“This infection is killing children and we have an opportunity to prevent it,” Beth Bell, a doctor on the board, said after the vote.
The Biden administration plans to start distribution of vaccines for the under-5 group as early as next week.
“We will begin shipping millions of vaccines for children to thousands of venues that parents know and trust, including pediatricians’ offices, children’s hospitals and pharmacies,” President Joe Biden said in a written statement.
“As vaccine doses are delivered, parents will be able to start making vaccination appointments for their youngest child from next week at the earliest,” Biden said.
It is not clear how high the demand for vaccines will be, although many parents in the US are willing to have their children vaccinated. Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 was approved last October, but only 29 percent of that group have received their full dose of vaccine to date, according to federal data.