Washington, (EFE) – The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this Friday the emergency use of vaccines against covid-19 for children from six months of age.
In a statement, the FDA indicated that the approved vaccines are Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.
Until now, Moderna’s was only approved for adults over 17 (that is, 18 years or older), while Pfizer-BioNTech’s was approved for children and adults 5 and older.
unanimous vote
On Wednesday, a committee of independent FDA experts voted unanimously to recommend approval of the vaccines for children under 5, saying the potential benefits significantly outweigh the potential risks.
Despite the approval of the FDA, the vaccines will not be widely available for the little ones in pharmacies and hospitals until the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) give their approval, something that could happen this same saturday.
Covid-19 vaccines for children on June 21
Last week, the United States Government already announced that it has 10 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine prepared for those under 5 years of age who want to be vaccinated, pending approval of its use in this group of children. age.
At a press conference to detail the White House vaccination plan, the team responsible for the government’s response to the pandemic said that they have already made these doses available to pediatricians, hospitals and clinics, and that the little ones could begin to Get vaccinated starting Tuesday, June 21.
“Millions more doses will be made available to our partners in the coming weeks,” said Dawn O’Connell, Under Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
information campaign
In addition, the Government will launch an information campaign for parents in the hope of increasing the number of vaccinations among minors.
So far, only 35% of children between 5 and 11 years of age, the last group to be authorized to receive the covid vaccine, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Government experts expect the trend is for these numbers to rise over time as these vaccinations are shown to be safe and life-saving.
According to the latest data, more than 83% of the US population over the age of five has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
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