The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 14 to 0 in support of the recommendation, making the Pfizer vaccine the first to be offered to children under the age of 16.
Members of the committee’s Covid vaccine work group presented data on the disease burden American children have faced in the pandemic, saying an estimated 22.2 million aged 5 to 17 have contracted Covid and 127 children have died.
Oliver also reported that more children aged 12 to 17 were hospitalized for Covid than were hospitalized with H1N1 flu during that 2009 pandemic, or were hospitalized with flu in the past three flu seasons.
Data presented to the committee suggested the vaccine is protective in this age group, which generated higher antibody levels than people aged 16 to 25 who were also given the vaccine.
Nearly 20% reported having fever after the second dose, and in one case, a child experienced a high fever, 104.7 Fahrenheit — the only so-called Grade 4 side effect reported in the trial.
The most common side effects were injection site pain, fatigue, and headache, with 91% of vaccine recipients in the study reporting that constellation of symptoms, though they resolved within a day or two.
During the meeting, the CDC revealed it was waiving the recommendation that people not receive another vaccine within two weeks — either side — of getting a Covid-19 shot.
But a number of members of the committee expressed concern about the idea, given the newness of the Covid vaccines and the lack of clinical trials to date to see if co-administration would have any impact on the amount of protection generated by the vaccines.