For Immediate Release
Contact: Fatima Khan / fatima@protecttheirfuture.org

Over 900 Physicians Call on FDA to Urgently Review COVID-19 Data as Soon as it is Submitted

Letter comes at heels of reports that FDA may delay vaccine review to allow both Moderna and Pfizer to roll out at the same time

April 27, 2022 – Over 900 physicians sent an urgent letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf asking that the Food and Drug Association (FDA) immediately review COVID-19 vaccine data for children under 5 once the data has been submitted. Joining the individual physicians who signed onto the letter, local AAP New York Chapter 2 (representing a membership of approximately 1500 members) also showed public support by signing.  

“It is critical for our leaders to prioritize children’s health in public health policies,” said co-founder of Protect Their Future Dr. Katherine Matthias. “It is unacceptable for the FDA to delay life-saving vaccines any further by using the excuse that parents might be confused if children’s vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer get approved at different times. Children over 5 have had access for over half a year; adults have had access for almost a year and a half. Our youngest patients deserve better and our families cannot wait a day longer. We have lost enough already.”

The request comes after news reports leaked that the FDA might wait on reviewing Moderna’s data until Pfizer catches up with its submission for the under 5 age group. Politico reported that “regulators are leaning toward postponing any action until the early summer, arguing that it would be simpler and less confusing to simultaneously authorize and promote two vaccines to the public.”

“With nearly 500 children under the age of five in the United States dead from COVID-19, thousands suffering from MIS-C, and an ever-evolving recognition of COVID-induced neuroinflammation, myocarditis, and long COVID in children, there must be no further delay,” the letter in part reads. “We cannot continue to standby and allow preventable death and disability in the most vulnerable members of society.”

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About Protecting Their Future: 

Protect Their Future is a grassroots group of physicians, parents, and activists advocating on behalf of young children and patients to have access to COVID-19 vaccines as the pandemic rages on. The organization is calling on health leaders to PUT KIDS FIRST and allow parents and doctors the option to protect children with a safe and effective vaccine.