by Makini Brice
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Saturday recommended vaccinating children as young as six months old against COVID-19, paving the way for a possible campaign to vaccinate even very young children , which could begin next week.
The CDC’s green light comes after advisers at the institution voted in favor of recommending the vaccine for even infants.
The US health authority, the FDA, on Saturday authorized Moderna’s vaccine for children aged six months to five years and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged six months to four years. The Pfizer was already licensed for children over five.
President Joe Biden’s administration plans to roll out the vaccines to under-fives as early as next week, in anticipation of the next school year.
While many parents in the United States are eager to vaccinate their children, it is unclear what the demand will be for the youngest among them. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, authorized last October for the 5-11 age group, has so far only been administered to 29% of this category, according to federal data.
COVID-19 usually has mild effects in children, but since March 2020 it has been the fifth leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and four, and the fourth in those under one, according to the CDC. .
In addition, the institution’s advisers will meet again next week to decide whether or not to recommend the Moderna vaccine for the 6-17 age group in the face of concerns about the rare rate of cardiac inflammation observed in children. adolescents and young adults who have been administered the product. (With Leroy Leo, Manas and Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bangalore, Gilles Guillaume for the French version)