FDA authorizes COVID-19 vaccines for little kids

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines against COVID-19 for young children on Friday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) followed up Saturday by recommending the shot, which could be shipped out in the United States by Monday or Tuesday. Pfizer’s shot is for children younger than 5 and uses three shots of one-tenth of the adult dose. Moderna’s is for children younger than 6 and uses two shots of a quarter of the adult dose. Both can be given to children as young as 6 months old. Moderna plans to study its shots for children as young as 3 months. 

Is it effective? Studies showed that both vaccines were 51 percent effective in preventing illness from coronavirus in children 6 months to 2 years old and 37 percent effective in children ages 2 to 5. Side effects included fever and fatigue. About 2,600 children have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and the numbers have been trending down since then, the CDC reported. As of February 2022, approximately 75 percent of U.S. children and adolescents had been infected with COVID-19 at least once, according to a study by the CDC.

Dig deeper: Read Ashley Vaughan’s report in Beginnings about COVID-19 booster shots and public trust in the healthcare system.