| Covid vaccines are poised to take an important step on a downward staircase to younger populations as health officials consider them for adolescents.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to issue an emergency authorization for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds "within several days," White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said during an interview with NBC News Wednesday. Canada took the step a few hours later. "I think it is going to be very soon," Fauci said. "I mean, I don't want to get ahead of the FDA, but I believe it is going to be within several days. I cannot imagine it is going to be much longer than that."
That would be welcome news. Older people are far more vulnerable than teens and children to symptoms of the coronavirus. But children are known to be spreaders of other contagious diseases, like the flu, and can in some cases suffer severe Covid infections themselves, even leading to death. Authorization for use in teens is a step not just toward protecting these young people but also the parents, grandparents and friends that they see each day. It might also ease the concerns of teachers, their unions and school administrators if the shots are available before the start of the academic year in the fall.  Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in a conference call Tuesday that he expected the announcement "shortly." The company has also said it plans to submit additional requests for children from 2 to 5 years old and those between ages 5 and 11 by September, after completing studies on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine for children. If the FDA grants the authorization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel is expected to meet shortly thereafter and make recommendations for how the shots could be distributed to adolescents. That would pave the way for a significant expansion of a U.S. vaccine effort that is seeing reduced demand as many of the country's most vulnerable and eager residents have already received at least their first shot.—John Lauerman and Justin Sink
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