Many parents hoping for COVID-19 vaccines for their children younger than 12 may get their wish this fall, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The vaccines could be authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this fall for children ages 5 to 11, Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.
“If you look at the studies that we at the (National Institutes of Health) are doing in collaboration with the pharmaceutical companies, there will be enough data to apply for an emergency use authorization both by Pfizer, a little bit later by Moderna,” Fauci, who directs the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says.
“I believe both of them — with Pfizer first — will very likely be able to have a situation where we’ll be able to vaccinate children. If the FDA judges the data sufficient enough, we could do it by the fall,” Fauci adds.
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In a statement released Friday, the FDA said the agency will carefully review the data on vaccines in younger children once it’s available.
The agency is “prepared to complete its review as quickly as possible, likely in a matter of weeks rather than months,” Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock and Dr. Peter Marks, who leads the vaccine division say.
“The agency’s ability to review these submissions rapidly will depend in part on the quality and timeliness of the submissions by manufacturers,” the FDA notes.
Pfizer may submit its data to the FDA by the end of September or the