A Food & Drug Administration advisory committee met Thursday to discuss how to best vaccinate children under 12 against COVID-19.

“Children are still members of society – a huge member of society – and they play a huge role when it comes to herd immunity,” says New Jersey pediatrician Dr. Amna Husain.

Many in the medical community say that this is why younger children need to be vaccinated. The FDA is taking a close look at how to best make this happen and happen safely.

The advisory committee discussed topics such as dosage size, possible side effects and what kind of information and data health officials will need from the drugmakers before the vaccine can be approved for children younger than 12.

Husain says that as more adults get vaccinated, COVID-19 is finding more pediatric patients.

“We are showing the vaccine is protecting adults against the variants, and the children who are disproportionately unprotected are becoming affected and coming down with the virus. So, it’s a disproportionate rise,” Husain says.

She says that children are a vulnerable population and should be vaccinated.

Moderna has just asked for emergency use of its vaccine for children age 12-17.

Pfizer, which already has approval for 12- to 17-year-olds, has already started trials on children age 5-11.