Covid vaccine for kids under 5: FDA authorizes Covid vaccines for the youngest kids

Is there a Covid vaccine for children? The FDA authorized Pfizer and Moderna's Covid vaccines for children as young as 6 months.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines for young children, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off before shots can be administered.

The Pfizer vaccine was authorized for children ages 6 months to 4 years, while the Moderna vaccine was authorized for children ages 6 months to 5 years, the FDA said in a statement. It also authorized Moderna's shot for kids ages 6 to 17.

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The agency's authorization brings the roughly 18 million children under age 5 in the United States one step closer to getting vaccinated. Children in the age group are the only remaining group in the country ineligible to get the shots.

The FDA's decision will now go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee, which will meet Friday and vote Saturday to decide how the vaccines should be used for children under 5. If all goes as planned, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will sign off on the authorization, potentially within hours of the committee’s clearance. Shots in arms — or thighs for babies and most toddlers under age 3 — could begin as early as next week.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-authorizes-covid-vaccines-youngest-kids-rcna33816

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