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Pfizer COVID Shot: Unanimous Vote Obscures Reservations About Vaccinating All Children 5-11

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

Many of US FDA's outside vaccine advisors wanted to wait for more data before widespread inoculations of kids 5-11, but felt some high-risk populations should get access to vaccine right away. They urged CDC to provide additional guidance on which children should be targeted.

three children laying outside a tent
FDA advisors voted in favor of an EUA for Pfizer's COVID-10 vaccine in children 5 to 11 with some reservations. • Source: Alamy

The US Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisors voted 17-0 with one abstention in favor of an emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. But the overwhelmingly positive vote at the 26 October meeting was caveated by many panel members belief that the risk-benefit balance was favorable for some but not necessarily all children in this age band, and many seemed to be counting on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to add additional nuance to the recommendation before the shots are available.

“There are certainly kids who probably should be vaccinated. The question of how broadly to use it, though, I think it’s a substantial one,” said Eric Rubin, the editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and an adjunct professor in the department of immunology at Harvard University

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