CDC panel recommends Moderna two-dose Covid vaccine for kids ages 6 to 17 - CNBC

The committee endorsed Moderna's vaccine for kids ages 6 to 17 after examining its safety and effectiveness during a public meeting.

Moderna originally asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 17 more than a year ago, but the regulator held off after other countries raised concern the company's shots might be associated with a higher risk of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, than Pfizer's vaccine.

of heart inflammation in kids who get Pfizer's or Moderna's shots because Moderna's vaccine was only authorized for adults until this month.

data on myocarditis among kids ages 6 to 17 is based on side effects reported from Pfizer's vaccine because Moderna's shots hadn't been authorized for this age group yet.

The risk of myocarditis after Pfizer vaccination is highest after the second shot among boys ages 12 to 17.

Myocarditis is slightly elevated among boys ages 5 to 11 after the second dose of Pfizer's vaccine, though it is much lower than adolescents.

Boys ages 16 to 17 reported 75 myocarditis cases per 1 million second Pfizer doses administered while boys ages 12 to 15 reported about 46 myocarditis cases, according to CDC data.

Boys ages 5 to 11 reported 2.6 myocarditis cases per million second Pfizer doses administered.

Sara Oliver, a CDC official, said the risk of myocarditis after Moderna vaccination in children and adolescents is unknown, though data from adults suggests the risk could be higher than Pfizer's shots.

The shots for adolescents ages 12 to 17 were about 90% effective at preventing illness from the original Covid strain and the alpha variant, while the shots for kids ages 6 to 11 were more than 76% effective at preventing illness from the delta variant, according to the Food and Drug Administration's review of clinical trial data.