US FDA advisers back Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children

The companies have said their vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11

An expert panel on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend the US Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, saying the benefits of inoculation outweigh the risks.

An authorization for that age group would be would be an important regulatory step toward reaching about 28 million children for inoculation, most of them back in school for in-person learning.

The vaccine could be available to the younger age group as soon as next week. The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its outside experts, but usually does.