No Safety Data to Back CDC’s Recommendation on Co-administering COVID-19 Injections and Other Vaccines in Children

Empty vials of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children over 5 years old are pictured at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pa., on May 19, 2022. Hannah Beier/Reuters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in updated guidance on June 24, says that children as young as 6 months may simultaneously receive COVID-19 injections and other routine vaccines on the same day, although no safety study has been conducted by the vaccine manufacturers.

The guidance comes after the CDC recommended mRNA COVID-19 injections—a three-dose primary series from Pfizer or a two-dose primary series from Moderna—for children aged 6 months to 5 years on June 18.