Small children may be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by the end of the month, the New York Times reports.
Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that the first doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines could be available for children under the age of 5 by June 21, according to the Times. It adds that Jha cautioned that the timeline he laid out assumed authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for vaccination.
Last month, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that three doses of their SARS-CoV-2 vaccine — each a third of the dose given to adults — generated a strong immune response among children between the ages of 6 months to just under 5 years old. Moderna additionally in April asked the FDA to issue an Emergency Use Authorization for its vaccine for children 6 months to under 2 years and 2 years to under 6 years of age.
According to NPR, an FDA advisory committee is to meet June 15 and any authorizations and shipments of vaccines would come after that.