Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have unanimously supported broad use of Pfizer's and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, with shots potentially being administrated as soon as today.
They said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Much of their discussion stemmed from rare cases of heart inflammation that have been linked to the vaccine, particularly in young men.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must sign off on the recommendations before the United States can begin administering the vaccine to children in the age group.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorisation of the vaccine in 5- to 11-year-olds on Friday. The FDA authorised a 10-microgram dose of