A member of the federal Food and Drug Administration’s panel to determine if a children’s COVID-19 vaccine could be granted emergency use authorization appeared to indicate that the full extent of the drug’s safety won’t be determined until it’s distributed to children on a large scale.
“We’re never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, according to FaithWire. “That’s just the way it goes.”
The panel was considering Pfizer-BioNTech’s version of the COVID-19 vaccine for patients between the ages of 5-11.
Much discussion has been had over the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children as schools and state governments consider requiring the shot for students.
California announced that the Pfizer vaccine, the only approved COVID-19 vaccine that can be administered to patients 17 and younger, would be required for eligible students at public and private schools beginning next semester.
Children younger than 12 will be phased in as approval is granted.
The drug giant’s COVID-19 vaccine has previously only been approved for patients 12 and older.
Rubin was one of the 18-member Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, who ultimately voted to grant the inoculation the emergency use authorization Pfizer sought.
All the members voted to do so save one, who absented.
Dr. Rubin was responding to the question, “Based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine when administered as a 2-dose series outweigh its risks for use in children 5-11 years of age?”
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