Pfizer asks FDA to allow COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer is asking U.S. regulators to authorize extra-low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5. The move could open the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots by early March. The nation’s 19 million children under 5 are the only group not yet eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus. Many parents have been pushing for an expansion of shots to toddlers and preschoolers, especially as the omicron wave sent record numbers of youngsters to the hospital. If the Food and Drug Administration agrees, Pfizer shots containing just one-tenth of the dose given to adults could be dispensed to children as young as 6 months.