COVID-19 Vaccines For Those Under 12 Could Come Before End Of Year, Says CDC Head

New coronavirus cases among children recently hit a record high , but a vaccine for those under the age of 12 could be available by the end of the year, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

We want to move quickly, we anticipate moving quickly, but we also want to have the efficacy data and the safety data that the [Food and Drug Administration] will require ... to make sure that it is the right thing for kids, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an interview with NBCs Today.

A similar timeline for those ages 5 to 11 has been suggested by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. surgeon general and the FDAs vaccine chief. The FDAs former head, who now serves on Pfizers board of directors, also said Sunday that Pfizers vaccine could be approved for children by the end of October.

Were hoping by the end of the year. -@CDCDirector Rochelle Walensky on when kids under 12 might be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/YpyWSO3LrW

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Were hoping by the end of the year. -@CDCDirector Rochelle Walensky on when kids under 12 might be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/YpyWSO3LrW
TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 13, 2021

As Walensky said Monday, vaccine makers must first submit their data to the FDA for emergency use authorization. It will then likely take a few weeks, but not months, for the FDA to determine whether the shots are safe for children, the agencys vaccine chief, Dr. Peter Marks, told The Associated Press on Friday.

Pfizer has said it expects to turn over its vaccine study results by the end of September, while fellow vaccine maker Moderna has told investors that it expects to submit its data by the end of the year.

Data shows that adults generally face a greater risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. But the delta variant has increased the rate of virus transmission, Walensky pointed out, and children are just as capable as adults of falling ill and spreading the virus.

We definitely are seeing more disease, she said Monday. This virus is an opportunist. It will go where people are not vaccinated. The best thing we can do for our kids is surround them by people who are vaccinated when they become eligible to be vaccinated.

About 252,000 new coronavirus cases were reported among children in a single week earlier this month, according to data compiled by two health organizations. It marked the largest number of new pediatric COVID-19 cases in a single week since the pandemic began and came as millions of children headed back to school.