According to an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration, experts from the CDC have also spoken out in favor of vaccinating children between the ages of six months and five years against the corona virus. Both the vaccine from the German manufacturer BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer and the preparation from the American company Moderna could be used for around 18 million small children, it said. The vaccinations protect young children from hospitalizations, deaths and possible long-term complications that have not yet been clearly clarified, the CDC advisory panel justified its recommendation. It has yet to be signed by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
US President Joe Biden called the decision a “huge step forward in our country’s fight against the virus.” For parents in the US, this is a day of relief. In the coming week, they could start making vaccination appointments at pediatric surgeries, children’s hospitals and pharmacies, Biden said.
US President Joe Biden is very satisfied with the recommendation from the health authorities
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The BioNTech vaccine for children aged five to eleven was approved at the end of October. According to the US authorities, only about 29 percent of children in this age group have been fully vaccinated. The Moderna vaccine was previously approved in the United States for people aged 18 and over.
US authorities are pushing for vaccinations
With regard to a new possible corona wave, the US authorities are pushing for vaccinations for children before the new school year. In this age group, COVID-19 disease is usually rather mild. Still, as of March 2020, it is the fifth leading cause of death in children ages one to four years old and the fourth leading cause of death in children under one year old, according to the CDC.
There is currently no corona vaccine approved for small children in the EU. The European medicines agency EMA in Amsterdam is currently examining whether the preparation from the manufacturer Moderna can also be approved for children under the age of six. Such a test has not yet started for the vaccine from the manufacturers BioNTech and Pfizer.
se/gri (rtr, ap, afp, dpa)
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