This archive report was first published on 2 November 2021.
As the United States prepares for the winter holidays, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is poised to become available for children ages 5 to 11. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the vaccine for emergency use in this age group, following a near-unanimous recommendation from its advisers last week.
On Tuesday, a similar committee advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have its say. If, as expected, the advisers recommend the vaccine and the agency's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, signs off, the decision would most likely ease the worries of millions of parents and buttress the United States' defenses against the virus before winter arrives.
According to federal officials, about 15 million doses are already being packed with dry ice, loaded into small specialized containers and shipped via airplanes and trucks to vaccination sites across the country. The younger children will receive one-third of the dose authorized for those 12 and older, delivered by smaller needles and stored in smaller vials to avoid a mix-up with adult doses.
Although cases in the United States have been falling steadily for weeks, experts warn that indoor family gatherings during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays may send the rates soaring again, even if not to the horrific highs of last year. Vaccinations would ease the minds of many parents who are anxious to protect their young children and frustrated by frequent school shutdowns and quarantines.
