Questions about vaccinating children — including those under 12 — are of huge interest to parents and teachers. Regulators will be required to balance potential side effects of coronavirus vaccination against the risks of Covid-19.
Members of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee have said that the benefits of shots for people older than 12 greatly outweigh the risks, including of heart problems. Children 12 and older have been eligible for the Pfizer shot for months even as studies continue on the safety of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for younger children.
infection with the coronavirus also carries risk and delays in authorizing vaccines because of expanded trials might also put children at risk. “There’s always a human price to pay for knowledge,
Many public health experts argue that, with so much attention focused on hospitalizations and deaths among older Americans infected with the coronavirus, the risk for children has been overlooked.