FDA approves use of COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11. | Pixabay/Victoria_Borodinova
FDA approves use of COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11. | Pixabay/Victoria_Borodinova
Iowa children as young as five-years-old could soon be able to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, since the Food and Drug Administration voted to approve use for children under the age of 12.
Children ages 5-11 have become the next population group to be eligible for the vaccine and could receive the first shot as early as Nov. 4, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
"Excellent news for Iowa children ages 5-11," Raymond Baker, a fifth generation Iowan, tweeted Oct. 25. "Covid vaccines are within sight. #GetTheShot."
The FDA's panel of vaccine experts voted to approve the shot for children in that age group Oct. 26, agreeing that the benefits of Pfizer's COVID vaccine surpass the risks in young children, according to Iowa Capital Dispatch. Guidance on how the shot would be used would be left up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decision that would be made during a two-day meeting starting Nov. 2.
The Des Moines Register reported that the approval means 28 million children in America are now eligible to receive the vaccine.
Some 558 children in the United States have died of COVID-19, most of whom had underlying conditions, as of the middle of October, the Des Moines Register reported.
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