CDC Panel Unanimously Recommends COVID Vaccines For Young Children

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee unanimously voted Saturday to recommend both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old.

Pfizer’s vaccine has been readily available to kids over 5, while Moderna’s has been available to anyone ages 18 and older. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky approved the advice later that day, meaning parents will have the choice to vaccinate their young children as early as next week. Among children under 5, the CDC has reported over 2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, over 20,000 hospitalizations and over 200 deaths in the U.S.

Parents across the spectrum have been divided on whether to follow the CDC's recommendation and get their children vaccinated. Some voices believe the benefits seem to "clearly outweigh" the risks, while others have raised concerns about the vaccines’ "safety and efficacy."

Left-rated outlets were more likely to label this news as a "milestone in the U.S. vaccination campaign" and accentuate how these vaccines have been found to be "safe and effective in randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials." Some right-rated outlets emphasized that the trials were "funded by the companies themselves" and based on "controversial" techniques that don't efficiently measure "protection against severe illness."