CDC and FDA Endorsed COVID Vaccines for Infants

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for young children received emergency use authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday. Children as young as 6 months may be given the Covid-19 vaccine by CDC vaccine advisers who voted unanimously on Saturday.

The kids are expected to be jabbed next week. It is just over one and a half years after COVID was first approved for the elderly population. The children below 5 were the only group left without the vaccine, and after this approval, this group of population will be vaccinated too. Since the FDA’s stamp of approval is considered the global gold standard, it provided a live stream of its internal deliberations and stamping of approval for the world to see.

The session started with Peter Marks’s initial remark in which he stated that even though studies have shown most children are now infected with the coronavirus, the high rate of hospitalizations among infants, toddlers, and young children during last winter's Omicron wave illustrates the importance of vaccination.

He further emphasized the importance of saving a life with an action as simple as a vaccine, which can prevent deaths even in toddlers. It is important to note that during the pandemic, there were 480 COVID-related deaths and 45,000 hospitalizations in children aged 0-4.

Since both the approved vaccines are messenger RNA based, which delivers the genetic code for the coronavirus spike protein to human cells, which grow it on their surface, training the immune system, so they are considered safe and effective for all age groups. Upon vaccination trial on thousands of children, the vaccination is found to be effective, safe, and had very mild side effects, as once previously known in the rest of the population.

As for the vaccination dose, 3 micrograms of Pfizer, can be given to children aged six months to four years, in 3 separate doses, while Moderna seeks authorization for 2 doses of a higher 25 micrograms for the same age group.