The FDA has granted Pfizer-BioNTech emergency approval for their vaccine for use in children from 5 to 11-years old, throwing open the door to inoculate 28 million children in the U.S. alone.
“The FDA has determined this Pfizer vaccine has met the criteria for emergency use authorization,” the Administration said in a statement on Friday. “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.”
The board’s announcement came with little surprise on Tuesday. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee already endorsed the vaccination for children under 12 by a vote of 17-0.
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The committee’s recommendation in itself did not come as a surprise either because — as many news media organizations already pointed out — nearly all members of the committee have strong bonds with Pfizer.
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Patrick Howley, a writer for National File, a news media that holds a critical stance towards mandatory vaccination, asserted:
“Members include a former vice president of Pfizer Vaccines, a recent Pfizer consultant, a recent Pfizer research grant recipient, a man who mentored a current top Pfizer vaccine executive, a man who runs a center that gives out Pfizer vaccines, the chair of a Pfizer data group, a guy who was proudly photographed taking a Pfizer vaccine, and numerous people who are already on the record supporting Coronavirus vaccines for children. Meanwhile, recent FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is on Pfizer’s board of directors.”
Robert Malone, a contributor to the invention of mRNA vaccines and a staunch opponent of deploying mRNA technology to counter COVID-19, especially in the case of children, said on Twitter:
“FDA Committee Members Reviewing Pfizer Vaccine For Children Have Worked For Pfizer, Have Big Pfizer Connections. This Is A Staggering Conflict of Interest.”
The FDA also opened up a public forum that propagates the slogan, “Your Voice in Federal Decision Making,” to comment on Pfizer’s plan to inject young children with the experimental Pfizer mRNA vaccine. According to Steve Kirsch, the Executive Director of the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund, they counted over 139.470 comments posted against giving authorization to the shots and could only find one comment in favor. The second comment posted to the forum reads:
“It is the height of insanity to vaccinate young children who are more likely to be injured from the vaccine than from the illness itself. You must not approve the Covid 19 vaccines for these youth, or you will see an entire generation of damaged people. Are you trying to kill off/injure them? I do not believe this has anything to do with the pandemic but only concerns profits for drug companies. Have you forsaken your humanity?”
Now, the final hurdle for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to children is the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which will meet this week to discuss the vaccine. Depending on the panel’s meeting outcome, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky would then have the final say on when 28 million children will be inoculated.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden already announced “a plan to ensure that, if a vaccine is authorized for children ages 5-11, it is quickly distributed and made conveniently and equitably available to families across the country,” while California Governor Gavin Newsom has already mandated vaccinating schoolchildren under 12; a rule that is pending federal authorization.
