COVID-19 shots for babies and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week.The CDC’s committee of experts began debating the two-dose Moderna and the three-dose Pfizer vaccines on Friday and was expected to vote around 12:30 p.m.
ET on Saturday. It’s one of the final steps left to get the shots in the arms of America’s youngest children. A final signoff is expected soon after from CDC Director Dr.
Rochelle Walensky.The Food and Drug Administration already gave its authorization after its own panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer for children as young as 6 months.With Walensky’s final sign-off, U.S.
kids under 5 — roughly 18 million children — would be eligible for the shots. It would come about 1 1/2 years after the vaccines first became available in the country for adults, who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic.While young children generally don’t get as sick from COVID-19 as older kids and adults, their hospitalizations surged during the omicron wave and FDA’s advisers determined that the benefits from vaccination outweighed the minimal risks.