BREAKING: FDA to approve COVID-19 booster shots for children five to 11 years old as early as TUESDAY, despite limited risk faced by children from the virus
- The FDA is expected to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster shot for children as young as five years old this week
- It would be the youngest eligible age group for the additional COVID-19 shots
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to approve COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for children as young as five years old as early as Tuesday, the New York Times reports.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will likely receive the approval this week, becoming the first booster shot children as young as five are eligible for.
Pfizer’s jab is already the only one available to minors in the U.S. – with children as young as five eligible for the first two-dose regimen – and its booster eligibility will now match that of its initial doses.
Uptake of the shots among these lower age groups has already been low, though, and the boosters in general have not been as popular as officials would have hoped among this age group.
Many experts also wonder if the shots are needed at all in children this young, as they suffer little risk from the virus – with minors making up around 0.1 percent of Covid deaths over the past two years – and are at an increased risk of some serious side-effects like myocarditis.
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