The FDA, Food and Drug administration, has said that the Pfizer vaccine meets the criteria to be safe and effective for children 5-11 years old. As of last week, that Covid-19 vaccine was authorized under Emergency Use Authorization for the children in this age group, which is about 900,000 children in Los Angeles County alone. Independent advisory committee experts profusely voted in favor for the authorization of the vaccine for these children.

“I urge families to get the facts on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and take action to protect themselves and loved ones from COVID-19, especially as we head into the winter months,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement last Wednesday. 

The Covid-19 vaccine was found to be around 90% effective in children 5-11 years old after having their immune responses compared to people 16-25 years old. The article, “FDA Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use in Children 5 through 11 Years of Age” wrote that the safety of the vaccine “was studied in approximately 3,100 children age 5 through 11 who received the vaccine . . .” A sore arm was the most common side effect and “no serious side effects have been detected.”

Also in the article, “FDA Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use in Children 5 through 11 Years of Age” the author writes that “Based on the totality of scientific evidence available, the known and potential benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in individuals down to 5 years of age outweigh the known and potential risks.”

Now that the Covid-19 vaccine is open to children in this age group, it is possible that elementary schools in California will begin to mandate it, along with the upcoming school mandates for children 12-18.