Headline RoundupOctober 7th, 2021

Pfizer Requests FDA Vaccine Authorization for Children 5 to 11

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday that they had formally requested FDA emergency use authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The request comes roughly three weeks after Pfizer said a lower vaccine dose had proven safe and effective in clinical trials for that age group. The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its advisory board for Oct. 26 to consider the authorization. About 125 of the 28 million American children aged 5 to 11 have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among Americans under 18 rose sharply over the summer, from 0.3 per 100,000 in June to 1.4 per 100,000 in August. 

Coverage was mostly balanced across the spectrum. Coverage on all sides differed on attributing the authorization request to Pfizer alone or to both Pfizer and BioNTech.

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