We’re approaching the point in the pandemic where everyone in America who wants a Covid vaccine will be eligible to get one. Tonight, Pfizer is asking the FDA for emergency use authorization for its vaccine for children ages six months old to four years old. This comes earlier than expected. The company says it was asked to submit its data after a record number of kids got Covid last month. The American Academy of Pediatrics says more than 3.5 million children tested positive for Covid in January alone. Parents nationwide have been pushing for an expansion of shots for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, especially in the wake of the fast-moving Omicron variant that also resulted in a record number of pediatric hospitalizations.

Pfizer says tonight it has given the FDA data on a two-dose vaccine regimen for children ages six months through four years old. The doses are one tenth of an adult’s and would be given three weeks apart. Pfizer says it also plans to submit data on a third shot for this age group soon. Pfizer’s request for Emergency Use Authorization of its vaccine means one of the nation’s youngest age groups will be eligible for shots possibly assumed as soon as the end of this month. In December, Pfizer announced that two doses of its vaccine did not provide strong enough immune response in two to four years old prompting the company to add a third shot to the trial. Authorization would come at a pivotal moment. New pediatric cases dropped last week for the first time since early December, but remain high over one hundred thousand for twenty-five consecutive weeks. New Orleans today became the first major school district to require its students, ages five and up, be vaccinated. Parents can opt out on medical, religious or philosophical grounds. But with so many parents already hesitant to vaccinate their eligible children, experts don’t expect authorization for kids under five to significantly affect new case numbers. Only thirty-eight percent of five to seventeen years old are fully vaccinated.