According to Taiwanese media reports, while American parents are anxiously waiting, an expert panel of the Food and Drug Administration held a meeting today to consider whether to recommend that children aged 5 to 6 months be vaccinated against the new coronavirus.

According to Taiwanese media reports, while American parents are anxiously waiting, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expert group held a meeting today to consider whether to recommend COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 6 months.

In the United States and most other countries, young children under 5 are the only age group not yet approved to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. If the expert panel votes in favor of approving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as expected, formal authorization will follow soon, with vaccinations expected to begin next week.

FDA released independent analyzes of both vaccines ahead of the meeting and found them safe and effective. The FDA believes the vaccine is urgently needed because hospitalization and death rates among young children in this age group are higher than among children and adolescents ages 5 to 17.

Pfizer is currently seeking authorization to inject three doses of 3 microgram vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old; while Moderna has asked the FDA to approve two doses of 30 microgram vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years old.

After trials by the two pharmaceutical companies, they found that the Pfizer vaccine is 80% effective in preventing young children from contracting the disease; while Moderna estimates that the efficacy is 51% for those aged 6 months to 2 years old, and 51% for those aged 2 to 5 years old. group was 37%.

These data are only preliminary. Moderna is studying the effect of the third dose, and its protective power data may be further improved.

There are currently approximately 20 million children under the age of 4 in the United States. If the FDA recommends that young children receive these two vaccines, the final decision will be made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

White House officials said last week that millions of young children could be vaccinated in pharmacies or medical facilities as early as June 21.