Fauci says FDA could authorize Pfizer's Covid vaccine for kids under 5 in the next month - CNBC

Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said the Food and Drug Administration could approve Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine for children under 5-years-old in the next month.

Fauci said younger children will likely need three doses, because two shots did not induce an adequate immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds in Pfizer's clinical trials.

Pfizer said it did not identify any safety concerns with the 3-microgram vaccine doses in children six months to 4-years-old.

Hospitalizations of children with Covid are rising as the highly contagious omicron variant has rapidly spread through communities across the U.S.

Walensky said earlier this month there's no indication that the omicron variant causes more severe illness in children

She said the delta variant also led to an increase in hospitalizations among children, but research later indicated that the variant did not make kids more sick compared with past variants