Young children could be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year, the US surgeon general said Tuesday.
Pfizer, the only fully approved FDA vaccine, and Moderna, which has been authorized for at least emergency use, are testing their jabs on kids under 12 and gathering data on the shot’s safety, efficacy and required dosage.
Once the trials are completed, the data will be shared with the FDA, which will work “incredibly hard” to review the information and make a determination, Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN during an interview.
“I think it’s possible that we might see that process complete by the end of the calendar year, which would be wonderful for kids like mine and many kids out there who can’t get vaccinated,” Murthy said.
“Until then … there is something really important we can do to protect our children, and that’s to make sure that the people around them are vaccinated.”
Both Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Francis Collins, who heads the National Institutes of Health, agreed Tuesday that kids under 12 could be eligible for the vaccine by the end of the year.
“I think there’s a reasonable chance that that will be the case,” Fauci said on the “Today” show, when asked if children would be able to get the shot before the holiday season.
“I hope all of that process will take place expeditiously,” the virus expert said of the work the FDA will have to do once Pfizer and Moderna share their data.
“And that we will have it on the timetable that you just mentioned, hopefully, by the mid-late fall and early winter.”
On “Good Morning America,” Collins said Pfizer has yet to submit its data on 5- to 11-year-olds to the FDA but is expected to by “late September.”
“Keep in mind, kids are not just scaled-down adults, they have different immune systems and metabolism. You really have to do the careful trials to make sure you got the dose right and there aren’t any surprises,” Collins said.
Meanwhile, the president of the American Medical Association released a statement Tuesday urging vaccine mandates now that the Pfizer shot is fully approved by the FDA.
“The only way to regain the upper hand in this fight is requiring vaccinations — specifically vaccine mandates,” Dr. Gerald Harmon said.
“The simple fact is unless a significant percentage of our population is vaccinated against COVID-19, we could be stuck fighting this virus for many more months or years to come. Now is the time for the public and private sectors to come together, listen to the science, and mandate vaccination.”