PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There are almost 20 million children under the age of 5 in the U.S., and up until this point in the pandemic, they have been excluded from the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Why?
When an advisory panel takes on the important task of approving a vaccine, the decision has everything to do with evaluating the safety and protectiveness of the vaccine.
For instance, the dosage of a vaccine in this age group needs to be smaller, and the length of time for protection and the number of doses needs to be examined. Of course, this means more testing in this age group.
Children are not just little adults. Their health care needs to be individualized for their stage of development.
KYW Newsradio's Medical Reports are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross.
