WASHINGTON: Pfizer-COVID-19 BioNTech's vaccine appears to be safe and efficacious for children under the age of five, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

The FDA scientists' study was uploaded online ahead of a meeting on Wednesday for the agency's independent specialists, who will review applications from both Pfizer and Moderna for vaccination the nation's youngest children.  In the United States, only children under the age of five are not yet eligible for Covid-19 immunisation.

The FDA found that rates of hospitalisation and death due to Covid-19 were greater among children under five than among those aged five to 17, "underscoring the value of an effective Covid vaccination in this age group," according to its study of Pfizer's data.

The FDA also stated that among children aged five and older who are already eligible for Pfizer's vaccine, the shots have helped to prevent hospitalisation and other serious outcomes, particularly this year, when the highly contagious Omicron variant and its rapidly evolving sub-variants became the virus's dominant forms.

The FDA's announcement comes as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association stated on Monday that 88,000 child Covid-19 cases were recorded across the US in the week ending June 9.

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