Fauci says FDA could authorize Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for kids under 5 in the next month

The Omicron coronaviruses variant was discussed during a press briefing at the White House.

The FDA could approve Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine for children under the age of 5 in the next month, according to White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Fauci said during an interview with Blue Star Families that he hopes it will be within the next month or so, but he can't guarantee that.

Two shots did not induce an adequate immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds in Pfizer's clinical trials.

If the three-dose study is a success, Pfizer will submit data to the FDA in the first half of 2022. Pfizer said there were no safety concerns with the vaccine doses for children six months to four years old. Adults get two 30 micrograms shots as part of their primary series of shots.

The only age group that is not currently eligible for vaccine is children under 5. Over the past month, the omicron variant has rapidly spread through communities across the U.S., causing a rise in hospitalizations of children with Covid.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said during a conference call that the rates of hospitalizations for children zero to four are increasing.

The rate of children being hospitalized with Covid as of January 8 was more than double the rate in early December.

There is no evidence that the omicron variant causes more severe illness in children. She said that the delta variant led to an increase in hospitalizations among children, but research later showed that the variant did not make kids more sick. According to real-world data from the U.S., U.K. and South Africa, omicron appears to cause less severe illness in adults.

The increase in hospitalizations of children is likely due to the high levels of virus transmission in the broader community.