US president Joe Biden has celebrated the US Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of Covid jabs for children as young as 6 months old, as a huge relief for parents.
On Friday the FDA authorised both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna Covid vaccinations for children under the age of five, opening the door to vaccinating millions of children once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agrees.
Biden claimed it would be a ‘relief’ to parents knowing that the jabs could be rolled out to that age group as early as next week.
Al Jazeera reports: The CDC needs to make its recommendations on how the jabs should be administered before a vaccination campaign can begin in earnest, however.
“For parents across the U.S., today is a day of relief,” Biden said in a tweet.
“As early as next week, pending CDC recommendations, parents will be able to offer their youngest the protection of a COVID-19 vaccine,” he said.
Still, it remains uncertain how many parents want their youngest vaccinated. By some estimates, three-quarters of all children have already been infected. And only about 30 percent of children aged five to 11 have been vaccinated since Pfizer’s shots opened to them last November.
A panel of outside advisers began meeting on Friday to consider a recommendation to the CDC on the jabs for those under five years old and will vote on Saturday, likely followed by the CDC itself greenlighting the recommendation.
The final signoff will be made by CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky.