U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday evening she was endorsing a recommendation to vaccinate children ages 5-11 against COVID-19, clearing the way for immediate vaccination of the youngest age group yet in the United States.

 

"CDC now expands vaccine recommendations to about 28 million children in the United States in this age group and allows providers to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible," the agency said in a statement.

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Earlier Tuesday, CDC's independent vaccine advisers voted 14-0 in favor of the child-sized doses of vaccine for the younger kids.

Members of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices spent an unusually long time speaking in support of the vaccine before they voted.

President Joe Biden weighed in, calling the decision a turning point in the battle against the pandemic.

"It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus," Biden said in a statement.

 

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