The Food and Drug Administration could authorize a Covid-19 vaccine for children under age 5 in June, according to two people familiar with the plans.
The agency has asked members of its advisory panel, called the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, to set aside several days in June to potentially meet, the people said.
The panel members haven’t been told what the tentative meeting will be about, but it’s presumed the discussion will involve the topic of vaccinations in the nation’s youngest cohort, one of the people said. The first potential meeting date is June 1.
The days are still subject to change, the people said, especially if the trajectory of the Covid cases continues to rise in the United States.
The FDA had also tentatively scheduled meetings of the advisory committee in May, but those were eventually scrapped.
There are an estimated 19.5 million children under age 5 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, according to NBC News data.
Kids under 5 are the only group in the U.S. ineligible to receive a Covid vaccine, but efforts to vaccinate this age group have been met with delays.
Source: NBC News
