An advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to vote Tuesday on whether the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should be used on children ages 5 to 11.
In Texas, that amounts to about 2.9 million children who are in this age group — which is more than 10% of the national population of children who are ages 5 to 11.
The FDA's advisory panel is expected to vote favorably for the emergency use of the vaccine on children. That move would open the door for final approval by the agency, which could happen as early as this week, depending on the panel’s recommendation. Rules for administering the vaccine to children from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could follow as early as next week. Once the CDC's guidance is released, shots could be going into the arms of younger kids in Texas by the first weekend in November, state health officials say.
