State Officials React To FDA Recommendation About Youth Vaccinations

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Sacramento, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom and state public health officials are reacting to an FDA committee’s recommendation that the Pfizer COVID vaccine be available for youth ages 5-11.

The committee had 17 votes in favor and one person abstained. It could gain emergency FDA approval in the coming days. The children who sign up would receive two shots, similar to adults, 21 days apart. It would, however, be a reduced dosage equating to about 1/3 of what adults receive. The FDA committee accepted Pfizer’s data, indicating that the vaccine is 90.7-percent effective for the age group.

State officials are preparing to roll out the vaccine for youth as soon as it receives FDA  emergency authorization.

Governor Newsom, California Public Health Officer Tomas Aragon, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tomas Aragon have put out a joint statement.

“The recommendation to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 brings us one step closer to keeping more of our loved ones safe, achieving full family protection, and ending the wrath of this deadly virus. Research from rigorous clinical trials indicates the pediatric formulation of the vaccine is safe and highly effective in this age group.”

Newsom has stated that vaccines will be required for school children to attend classes in the semester after it receives full FDA approval. It is not immediately known when that will be. At this point, it would only be emergency approval. We reported earlier that the school mandate has spurred statewide protests in opposition with some parents voicing strong disapproval.