Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci said Thursday that though he “can’t guarantee it,” babies and toddlers aged 6 months to 5 years could be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by spring.
“Hopefully within a reasonably short period of time, likely the beginning of next year in 2022, in the first quarter of 2022, it will be available to them,” Fauci told Insider in an interview, though he cautioned that he was speculating, adding, “you’ve got to do the clinical trial.”
Pfizer-BioNTech previously stated that results from their clinical trial in children in the age ranges of 2 to 5 years and 6 months to 2 years are expected as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.
According to a report by ABC Tampa in late October, Pfizer expects to apply this month for approval for its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 6 months to 5 years, the last age range in the U.S. not yet being vaccinated.
“The Food and Drug Administration and CDC won’t approve the vaccine until there’s some data showing safety and efficacy,” Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician and immunologist at Boston College, told CNN Health earlier this month.
“There’s every reason to think that it will be safe, and it will be efficacious,” Landrigan added. “But the agencies need to be cautious, justifiably so, and so they’re not going to give the approval until they have the data.”
According to CNN, Pfizer is the furthest along in trials for those aged 6 months to 5 years, but Moderna is also conducting studies in very young children.