COVID-19 vaccines may be available for children between the ages of 5 and 11 as early as November, top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Oct. 24.
A total of 2,268 children from ages 5 to 11 were included in the trial and received a dose of 10 micrograms, or one-third of the adult dose. Twice as many were given the child-level dose of the vaccine compared to others who received a placebo. Among those who received the placebo, 16 tested positive for COVID-19. Three cases were recorded among those who were administered the trial vaccine.
On Oct. 26, members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will hold a meeting to vote on whether they will recommend authorizing the shots.
Advisers to the CDC are also scheduled to meet on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 to give recommendations for the vaccine, which will help to inform a final decision by its director. If authorized, roughly 28 million more children in the United States would be eligible to receive the vaccine, making it the first U.S. COVID-19 vaccine for younger kids.
Elsewhere during the Oct. 24 interview, Fauci weighed in on reports that the COVID-19 virus outbreak may have initially occurred in a laboratory. He said that the implication that the research led to COVID-19 is “unconscionable” and “molecularly impossible.”
Marshall said such probes had revealed national security issues, including federal agencies authorizing “dangerous research” with certain countries that “may have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.”