NBC News The Food and Drug Administration is considering revoking its authorization of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for healthy children under the age of 5, the drugmaker confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday.
The move could leave many kids with no available shot against the virus, as jabs from Moderna and Novavax are cleared for more limited populations. While Covid typically causes mild symptoms in most children, others, such as infants under 1 or those with certain health conditions, can be at a higher risk of severe illness and hospitalization.
If the FDA pulls the authorization, it would add to a string of recent efforts by U.S. health agencies to change and undermine immunization policy since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, took the helm. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FDA told Pfizer it might not renew its longstanding emergency use authorization for children ages 6 months to 4 years, the company said in a statement. Pfizer said it has requested the authorization to remain in place for the upcoming fall and winter season and is “currently in discussions with the agency on potential paths forward.”