FDA gives emergency use authorization for Pfizer vaccine for children 12-15, CDC set to vote Wednesday

The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15, leaving a big decision for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

News 12 Staff

May 11, 2021, 10:13 AM

Updated 1,307 days ago

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The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15, leaving a big decision for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If the CDC gives its approval to the new age group, then children as young as 12 will be eligible for Pfizer’s vaccine.
The acting FDA commissioner says the administration reviewed all the data to ensure parents that the Pfizer vaccine is safe for their children and has “met the criteria."
The FDA and CDC are expected to discuss the findings of vaccine trials Wednesday, and then vote whether to give it emergency use authorization.
Officials from the FDA report the side effects are the same for children as they are for older adults, and include, soreness, tiredness, headache, chills and muscle and joint pain.
The chair of department of pediatrics at One Brooklyn Health says it is the right move to give children the vaccine.
“We’ve seen that COVID has so many different manifestations, particularly in children” they say. “And these studies are done with a great deal of care and transparency. If I had a child in that age group, I would definitely get them vaccinations.”
President Joe Biden says that the administration is ready to get doses to thousands of pharmacies across the country and to pediatricians, if and when final authorization is given.