Delay ahead for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have put the brakes on their push to speed Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children under 5. Friday’s move creates major uncertainty about how soon the shots could become available. The Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer to apply before the companies’ study was even finished. The agency cited the toll the omicron variant has taken on children. Next week, FDA advisers were supposed to publicly debate if youngsters should starting getting two shots before it’s clear if they’d actually need a third. But Friday, the FDA reversed course. Pfizer said in a statement that it expected the data for a third dose by early April.