WASHINGTON — It's been over two months since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration extended the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 12 through 15.
That was in May. By that point, roughly 1.5 million coronavirus cases had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among children 11-17.
Now the big question remains. When will kids under the age of 12 be able to receive vaccines?
We still aren't quite sure.
CNN host Don Lemon asked President Joe Biden that question during a televised town hall event on July 21.
"Soon." President Biden told CNN. "Soon in the since that I do not tell any scientist what they should do. I do not interfere."
Biden said the testing and decision-making process was still underway among scientists. He said the testing process was extensive to see how vaccinations would affect children.
Earlier in May, 10 Tampa Bay reported that both Pfizer and Moderna began U.S. studies in children ages 6 months to 11 years. The studies will help determine if younger kids will need different doses than teens and adults.
In a Senate hearing earlier this week, CNN reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said studies currently underway could be publicly released as early as late fall or early winter.
Ultimately, the decision about whether to approve vaccines in young kids is left to the FDA.
Recent reporting on COVID-19:
- Florida and four other states, including Arkansas, Missouri and Nevada, are driving the country's latest wave of new infections.
- As the coronavirus pandemic continues, new variants of the virus are emerging throughout the world.
- The Florida Department of Health reported there were 45,604 new cases during the week of July 9-15.
- COVID-19 cases in Sarasota and Manatee counties alone have tripled from earlier this month and it's causing health officials to urge people to get vaccinated.
- Several athletes with Florida ties are heading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
- Florida accounts for one in five new COVID cases, White House says
- 'We’re not locking people down': Gov. DeSantis says Florida will stay open despite rising COVID-19 cases
- Florida was the #1 place people moved to in 2020, study says
- Red tide is killing sea life: Where do all the dead fish go?
- A Frank Conversation: New podcast explores race, religion, politics and more
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