Children aged 5-11 can now be vaccinated.

Last night, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that after a unanimous vote, the CDC’s advisory committee has decided to grant authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech to begin administering their COVID-19 vaccine to children. The children’s dose of the vaccine is a lowered version of the regular dose, and is intended for children between the ages of 5 and 11. An estimated 28 million children are now elligible for vaccination with this announcement, and parents have already begun scheduling appointments.

“This is a huge step forward for children and parents and I endorse this recommendation,” said CDC advisory committee member Dr. Beth Bell, a clinical professor in the department of global health at the University of Washington.

“The bottom line is, the data showed here today that the vaccine is safe,” said committee member Dr. Oliver Brooks, the chief medical officer at Watts HealthCare Corporation in Los Angeles. “Children are dying, and we can reduce hospitalizations, cases and deaths with this safe and effective vaccine that will benefit the community.”

“We know that you only want what’s best for your child, and it’s understandable that you have questions and concerns,” Dr. Matthew Daley, a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said in a comment directed at parents concerned about the safety of vaccinations. “This may be particularly true given what seems to be a deliberate campaign of disinformation out there. And so I would just encourage you to talk to your child’s pediatrician or family physician.”

According to Dr. Sara Oliver, an epidemic intelligence service officer at the CDC, “Covid-19 is now vaccine-preventable.”

“We now have the ability to prevent the burden of disease, future hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 in children 5 to 11 years of age.”