Former FDA head Scott Gottlieb, a member of Pfizer's board of directors, said yesterday he expects the company's COVID-19 vaccine will be available to children aged 5-12 by early winter or even late fall. According to Gottlieb, there are as many as 300 children hospitalized with COVID-19 every day. On Face the Nation, he said that that Pfizer expects to submit its trial data to the FDA in September and apply for emergency use for children 5 the following month. From CBS News:
"The agency will be in a position to make an authorization, I believe, at some point, late fall, probably early winter," Gottlieb told "Face the Nation. "And probably they're going to base their decision on what the circumstances around the country, what the urgency is to get to a vaccine for kids…."
If the FDA authorizes Pfizer's vaccine in kids between the ages of 5 and 11 in November or early December, "that, again, puts you on a timeframe that you could start rolling out these vaccinations before the end of the year."
Data on kids two to five will be available in November, Gottlieb adds.
image (rotated): Arne Müseler (CC BY-SA 3.0 de)
