A COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 may be available by the end of the year, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
''We’re waiting for the companies to submit the data to the FDA. We’re anticipating that will happen in the fall,'' Walensky said Monday on NBC's "Today" show.
"We will look at that data from the FDA, from the CDC, with the urgency that we all feel for getting our kids vaccinated, and we’re hoping by the end of the year," she said.
Asked about parents who are frustrated about not yet being able to have their young children vaccinated, especially as the more dangerous delta variant has spread throughout the country, Walensky said: "We want to move quickly, we anticipate moving quickly, but we also want to have the efficacy data and the safety data that the [Food and Drug Administration] will require ... to make sure that it is the right thing for kids."
Many conservatives worry that vaccine approval for younger children would result in mandates for them at schools. This has already begun among students 12 and older, who qualify for adult shots.
The Los Angeles Unified School District voted last week to mandate vaccines for students 12 and older.
Students' parents who oppose vaccines are already protesting such moves.
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