The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has alerted COVID-19 vaccine providers that shots for children younger than 5 years old will likely be coming their way by Feb. 21, according to The Washington Post.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected next week to recommend that vaccines be approved for the youngest Americans on an emergency-use authorization.
According to Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, the government has secured enough supplies for all 18 million children in the U.S. who are between the ages of 6 months and 4 years.
Ten million doses are expected in the first shipment going out to pharmacies across the country, the Post reported.
Last week, Pfizer and its partner German pharmaceutical company BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration to expand the use of their COVID-19 vaccine to include most children under age 5.
“As hospitalizations of children under 5 due to COVID-19 have soared, our mutual goal with the FDA is to prepare for future variant surges and provide parents with an option to help protect their children from this virus,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
According to Bourla, children under age 5 will need a third dose of the vaccine to have the best protection against the omicron variant and future COVID-19 variants.
Dr. Alejandra Gurtman, Pfizer’s vaccine adviser, said last month the drugmaker planned to have the data for kids under 5 ready by the end of March or the beginning of April.
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