An expert panel has voted to recommend that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 years of age. The panel stated that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

The vaccine will likely be available to the younger children as early as next week. Though the FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of the outside experts, it usually does. There were 17 votes in favor, with one abstention. If authorized by the FDA, an advisory panel to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will convene next week to make a recommendation on the administration of the vaccine in this age group and the CDC director will make the final decision… (Reuters, October 26, 2021)