Anthony Fauci said Sunday that children between the ages of five and 11 will ‘very likely’ be able to receive the coronavirus vaccine by the first or second week of November.
This means, kids may be able to get the jab as soon as eight days from Sunday, according to the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
Fauci’s prediction was seconded by former FDA commissioner and Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb, who said on CBS‘ Face the Nation on Sunday that vaccine rollout for children could start as soon as November 4 or 5.
‘The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and their advisory committee will be meeting next week on October the 26th. And then their regulatory decision will be handed over to the CDC, likely November 2 or 3,’ Fauci explained to ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos.
‘So, if all goes well, and we get the regulatory approval and the recommendation from the CDC, it’s entirely possible, if not very likely, that vaccines will be available for children from 5 to 11 within the first week or two of November,’ he continued.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the vaccine could get emergency use authorization for children 5-11 by the first or second week of November
‘The effort has been to push the vaccine for 5 to 11 into pediatrician’s offices,’ Gottlieb told host Margaret Brennan
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Gottlieb told Face the Nation that if the FDA were to give authorization on Tuesday, even before the CDC votes on the issue in early November, vaccines will be shipped into the supply chain and made available for children as early as November 4.
‘The effort has been to push the vaccine for 5 to 11 into pediatrician’s offices,’ Gottlieb told host Margaret Brennan.
The Pfizer board member also said that the company and the Biden administration were planning to supply pediatrician’s offices with the shots, as it was more convenient for children and parents.
‘Getting children vaccinated is a much more consultative endeavor. Parents are going to want to talk to their own pediatrician about that. And so, you want the vaccine to be delivered at those sites,’ Gottlieb said.
‘You don’t want children to have to go to mass vaccination sites or even necessarily a pharmacy. You want them to go into the comfort of their own pediatrician’s office,’ he added.
Pfizer, one of the three companies with approved COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., reported Friday that their shot is safe and effective for children between 5-11, who are currently ineligible to receive the jab.
‘Getting children vaccinated is a much more consultative endeavor. Parents are going to want to talk to their own pediatrician about that. And so, you want the vaccine to be delivered at those sites,’ Gottlieb added. The former FDA commissioner said that children might be able to get the vaccine as early as November 4
Vaccination rates among U.S. adults severely decline over the summer, leading to hot spots in the country to reimplement mask mandates after they were lifted in late spring
‘Should we expect kids to start getting vaccinated in November?’ Stephanopoulos asked Fauci.
‘I would think so,’ the doctor responded.
He added, however: ‘You never want to get ahead of the FDA and their regulatory decisions, nor do you want to get ahead of the CDC and their advisers on what the recommendation would be.’
‘But if you look at the data that’s been made public and announced by the company, the data look good as to the efficacy and the safety,’ he continued.
The vaccine was already granted emergency use approval for children between the ages of 12 and 15 after it was approved by the FDA for everyone above 16 in the spring.
Last month, Gottlieb said emergency use could be done by Halloween for children 5-11.
Children under the age of 16 remain the only group not approved to be able to get inoculated against coronavirus
‘In a best-case scenario, given that timeline they’ve just laid out, you could potentially have a vaccine available to children aged 5 to 11 by Halloween,’ Gottlieb told CBS’s Face the Nation in September.
‘If everything goes well,’ he continued, ‘the Pfizer data package is in order, and FDA ultimately makes a positive determination, I have confidence in Pfizer in terms of the data that they’ve collected.’
Children are far less likely to have severe cases of COVID-19. In states reporting pediatric cases, children accounted for fewer than one-quarter of 1 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths, according to National Public Radio .
Seven states have reported no child deaths, while other states reported 0-0.03 percent of all COVID cases in children resulting in deaths.
Source: Source: Sound Health and Lasting Wealth
