The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given final approval to using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5-11 years old. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday that approximately 28 million children are now eligible to receive the vaccine for free.

Last week, the FDA authorized a 10-microgram dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children under 12, which is one-third of the adult dose. Health authorities forecast that the lower dose will help reduce the chances of side effects such as heart inflammation. In addition, the low-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective against the delta variant. 

Although many parents are hesitant to vaccinate their kids, some health experts insist that doing so is necessary to cope with the virus.

“Vaccinating our children will help us keep our schools open -- keep our kids in the classroom, learning and socializing with their classmates and teachers,” US President Joe Biden said in a press briefing.

“Our vaccination program not only helps save lives and beat the pandemic, it helps our economic recovery and helps us grow,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency remains cautious about vaccinating children. According to the official statistics, most children diagnosed with COVID-19 had mild symptoms and made full recoveries. In South Korea, COVID-19 vaccination is only recommended for children with health issues such as obesity and diabetes.

The photo above shows a nurse named Emily Cole injecting the Pfizer vaccine into a girl at a hospital in Colorado.


(Photos: AFP-Yonhap)


 By Kim Ye-rin (kyl8706@heraldcorp.com)