Protect Their Future Calls on Incoming FDA Commissioner to Prioritize Children Under 5 and Make Covid Vaccine Accessibility a Priority

February 16, 2022 - Protect Their Future released a statement as Robert Califf prepares to be sworn in as FDA Commissioner:

Almost two years into the pandemic, Protect Their Future calls on Robert Califf to address the urgent need to make Covid vaccines accessible to children under 5. More than 400 children under 5 have already died due to Covid, many more have suffered from medical complications such as MIS-C, long Covid and neurological effects, and Covid is one of the leading causes of death for children. mRNA vaccines show a high safety profile for children and there are multiple pathways that allow doctors to use their expertise and provide these vaccines to children.  However, the FDA is playing a critical role in blocking access.

Califf has an opportunity to course correct and pave an immediate path that prioritizes children and their families.  Currently, the FDA’s message to families of young children has been that they are not important or taken seriously, with this sentiment even seen in final communications by Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock to a pediatrician raising concern over the 417 children under 5 who have already died of Covid.  

Califf must offer a viable pathway to vaccinate young children now, before the next surge of Covid infections and as mitigation measures are rolled back across the country.  Furthermore, in order to rebuild trust, especially after the FDA abruptly delayed review of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children under 5 without adequate explanations, Califf must lead the FDA by being transparent about data and its trial evaluation process for Covid vaccines and treatments.  

The FDA has lost significant trust, and countless children and families have suffered the consequences.  We hope that Califf will change course and lead the FDA by making children and the need to be transparent key priorities.  Our nation’s health leaders moved mountains to safely bring vaccines to the adult population in record time and should be applauded for those efforts.  We call on Califf to do the same for our children.

About Protecting Their Future: 

We are a grassroots group of physicians, parents and activists advocating on behalf of our young children and patients to have access to COVID-19 vaccines as the pandemic rages on. As parents, we have waited patiently for our kids to be protected while the rest of the country seems to have put the pandemic behind them. Omicron is the most infectious of all variants to date and early reports are showing potential increased hospitalization in children under 5. With nearly 6,000 cases of MIS-C in children and 1,000 kids who have died of COVID-19 kids under 18, we need to do all we can as parents to protect our children. We currently have the data and science, but bureaucratic and procedural red tape is leaving young children unprotected. We need that to change. We need the FDA and regulatory agencies to PUT KIDS FIRST and allow parents the option to protect their children with a safe and effective vaccine.

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