The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine could become available for children younger than 5 by the end of February, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post on Monday. This would be the first vaccine made available for the age group in the United States.
The companies are expected to soon submit a request to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorization of the vaccine in kids 6 months to 5 years old, the Post reports. Once the FDA receives the application, regulators will begin reviewing the trial data on the two-shot regimen; data on a third shot won't be available until the end of March, at the earliest. The FDA's outside advisers will likely meet on the authorization request in mid-February, the Post reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 raceSpeed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burgerSpeed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
-
Israel, UN agree to Gaza pauses for polio vaccinationsSpeed Read Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now partially paralyzed
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soonSpeed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
-
WHO declares mpox a global health emergencySpeed Read An outbreak of the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox continues to spread in Africa
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?The explainer The condition affecting young women
