FDA advisers meet to discuss Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5 to 11 years old
CBSN
Pfizer's request to roll out COVID-19 vaccines for Americans as young as 5 years old is facing its first key regulatory test on Tuesday, as a panel of the Food and Drug Administration's outside vaccine advisers meets to weigh the potential benefits and risks of vaccinating younger children.
The meeting Tuesday of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is a crucial step towards vaccinations for younger children, but not the final word. Federal health officials hope first doses could begin as early as the first week of November, pending sign-off from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It is critically important from both a health and trust standpoint that we allow this process to play out rather than simply assuming the vaccine will be authorized," Dr. Richard Besser, former acting CDC director and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told "Face the Nation."
