CDC Director Rochelle Walensky: No concerns about myocarditis with nearly 5 million children vaccinated

"If you want your children fully vaccinated by the holidays, now is the time."

With nearly 5 million children ages 5 to 11 now vaccinated against COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says real-world monitoring finds vaccines are safe for young children.

Crucially, the CDC hasn't identified any concerns with the temporary heart inflammation known as myocarditis, a potential side effect of mRNA vaccines seen in rare circumstances in teenagers and young adults.

"We haven't seen anything yet," Walensky told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton in a rare in-person interview from CDC headquarters in Atlanta. "We have an incredibly robust vaccine safety system, and so if [problems] were there, we would find it."

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for children 5 to 11 years old in early November. Despite robust safety data, fewer than 1 in 5 children in this age group has receive their first dose.