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(CNN) --
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday expanded emergency use authorizations for Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccines to include children. from 6 months.
Moderna's vaccine is now licensed for use in children 6 months to 5 years and Pfizer's for children 6 months to 4 years.
However, they cannot be administered until the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s own vaccine advisers have voted whether to recommend them, which is scheduled to happen this Saturday, and that the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, has approved the recommendation.
The White House has said that the vaccines can begin next week.
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“Many parents, caregivers and doctors have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those less than 6 months of age.
"As we have seen with older age groups, we hope that vaccines for younger children will provide protection against the most serious outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death," Dr. Robert said in a news release. M. Califf, Commissioner of the FDA.
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"Those entrusted with the care of children can have confidence in the safety and efficacy of these COVID-19 vaccines and can be assured that the agency was thorough in its evaluation of the data," Califf added.
Pfizer's vaccine was already licensed for children 5 years and older and approved for people 16 years and older.
Moderna's vaccine was already authorized for people over 18 years of age.
FDA vaccine advisers voted Tuesday to expand that authorization to include people ages 6 to 17, but the FDA has not acted on that recommendation.
Covid-19Vaccine against coronavirus
