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Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could be available for kids ages 5 to 11 sometime in the first two weeks of November, making it possible for younger children to get their first shots before Thanksgiving.
“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,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Fauci stressed that it’s important not to “get ahead of the FDA and their regulatory decisions.”
“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 said.
Food and Drug Administration researchers shared in a study released Friday that the vaccine had proven to be highly effective at protecting kids from COVID-19.
A panel of outside experts is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to advise the agency before it decides whether or not to authorize the Pfizer shot for children.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Sunday that if authorized, her agency will then be “ready” to conduct its own review of the vaccine the first week of November.
“We are hopeful to hear from [the FDA] by the beginning of [the first week of November] and that’s when the CDC will have their meeting,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“And I will be ready to take action if all of that goes smoothly, as soon as possible. In the meantime, the administration is working on the operations and logistics. So, as soon as we have both the FDA authorization and the CDC recommendations, there will be vaccine out there so children can start rolling up their sleeves.”
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