The United States last week authorized the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 after a committee of experts found its benefits outweighed risks
The United States last week authorized the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 after a committee of experts found its benefits outweighed risks

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Tuesday that he was optimistic that U.S regulators would be approving its COVID-19 vaccine for children under five years old. Currently, Pfizer's vaccines are only available for those older than five years of age.

“I think the chances are very high for the FDA to approve it,” Bourla told CNBC in an interview. “I think that they will be pleased with the data and they will approve."

On Friday, the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee is expected to publish data on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids younger than five before it next assembles for a meeting on Feb. 15. In the latter meeting, the committee is expected to issue a decision on whether or not the FDA should authorize the shots.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical advisor and the nation’s top infectious disease expert, also predicted that the vaccine for the youngest children would be made available sometime soon. During a virtual town hall meeting with Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that supports military families last month, Fauci said he expected the vaccine would be made available in February.

"My hope is that it's going to be within the next month or so and not much later than that, but I can't guarantee that," Fauci said.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has driven up the number of infections among children in the United States. As Omicron became the predominant strain in the United States last winter, pediatric hospitalizations reached a higher number than at any point during the COVID pandemic.