The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, called the Food and Drug Administration approval for emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for children ages 12-15 as “a big deal” in America’s drive to reopen.
“This is exciting news,” said Collins. “We know that since this pandemic started, one and a half million teenagers have been infected with Covid-19, and not all have been as good as most. And some of them have ended up where they have been with this long Covid We are not doing any better , even weeks or months after the illness, so we really want to protect young people. “
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Advisory Board has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to review recordings for children. If approved by the CDC as expected, it could be distributed to teens as early as this week.
More than 44% of all adults in the US are fully vaccinated, and according to the CDC, around 58% have now received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine. The White House aims to increase that number to 70% by July 4th.
Collins told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the US is “on a pretty good path” and that the nation should be able to see CDC regulations to relax indoor masks.
“It’s just about finding the right way to balance the desire not to create another wave. This is the last thing we need right now with the fact that people are really fed up with masks to wear, “said Collins.