Technologies

FDA committee endorses COVID vaccine for kids ages 5-11: Here’s the latest

If authorized and recommended, shots could be given out to young kids as early as next week. Here’s what to know before your child becomes eligible.

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.

A panel of independent advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday to recommended Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to kids ages 5 to 11. The FDA still needs to give the vaccine official authorization, and another independent committee to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue guidance next week on how shots roll out, but the vaccine could be available to younger kids soon after that.

Last week, the White House shared a plan to get kids under 12 vaccinated against the coronavirus, saying it «will be ready to begin getting shots in arms in the days following a final CDC recommendation.» In addition to Pfizer’s vaccine being a lower dose for kids ages 5 to 11 (one-third the dose given to everyone else), we may expect the COVID-19 campaign to look different for those in that age group.

Children remain at low risk of severe COVID-19 disease and death compared with the adult population (of states that reported data to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 0.1% to 2% of COVID-19 cases in children resulted in hospitalization). But children can experience complications from COVID-19, including long COVID. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, about one-third of parents said they would vaccinate their child age 5 to 11 «right away» after they become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Although kids age 11 or younger can’t be vaccinated quite yet, teens ages 12 and up can be. While we wait for final recommendations for younger kids, here’s what we know about COVID-19 vaccines for kids.

When will kids be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine?

Kids ages 12 and up are able to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The other mRNA vaccine, Moderna, and the only single-dose vaccine on the US market, Johnson & Johnson, aren’t available for kids yet.

The FDA’s advisory committee met Tuesday and voted on recommending Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. Pfizer said in September that its vaccine is safe and effective for children in that age group, and members of the FDA’s committee ultimately voted that the benefits of vaccinating younger kids outweighed the risks. If an authorization is formally accepted by the FDA, an independent advisory committee to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet Nov. 2-3 to decide how the shots will be administered to children, and the CDC will need to formally accept its recommendation. Both agencies typically follow the advice of their advisory committees, so we can expect a final decision for kids ages 5 to 11 next week.

Do I need to give consent in order for my young child to get vaccinated?

Yes, parents generally need to consent to their children receiving medical care, which will include Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. This is especially true for younger children.

However, if you have a teenager or child old enough to express a desire to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but their desire is different than yours, they may have legal precedent to seek one out, depending on which state you live in.

In Tennessee, the rights of minors versus their parents when it comes to vaccine decisions came under the spotlight last summer when the state’s vaccine director, Michelle Fiscus, was allegedly fired, in part, for sending out a memo explaining Tennessee’s «mature minor doctrine,» which is the state’s writing on how minors may seek medical care without the consent of their parents in some cases.

If my child is immunocompromised or has a health condition, can they get a booster?

If your child is at least 12 years old, «moderately or severely» immunocompromised and vaccinated with Pfizer, according to the CDC, they should get a third dose of Pfizer. Moderna is only authorized for people aged 18 and older. Examples of people who are immunocompromised include people receiving treatment for cancers in the blood or tumors, organ transplant recipients, stem cell transplant recipients, people with untreated or advanced HIV infection and people taking drugs that could suppress the immune response, per the CDC.

The boosters currently available to some Americans who received Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson only applies to adults age 18 or older. No minor is eligible for a booster.

Does Pfizer’s full FDA approval extend to kids?

The FDA’s approval of the vaccine by Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, only applies to people as young as 16 years old. While Pfizer remains the only vaccine authorized for use in kids as young as 12 years old, vaccinating that age group is still under emergency use authorization rather than total approval. This is because, along with other factors, full FDA approval requires data on how the vaccine fares six months out, per NPR. Pfizer’s vaccine was only authorized for kids aged 12 to 15 in May.

This means that a vaccine mandate that hinges on full approval of a coronavirus vaccine, such as the one announced for schoolkids in California, won’t apply to kids younger than 16 for a while.

My child has allergies. Can they get the vaccine?

«If the child has a history of anaphylaxis or other severe allergies, then the observation time after the injection may be 30 minutes instead of 15,» Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease specialist with Stanford Hospital and Clinics and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, said in August. So you might be asked to stick around the waiting room with your child for an extra 15 minutes so health care providers can monitor vaccine recipients for the (extremely rare) allergic reaction that can occur after any vaccination.

Additionally, Liu said, children who are prescribed an EpiPen for any reason should bring it to their vaccine appointment.

If your child has a severe allergy to any of the ingredients in the vaccine available to them, they shouldn’t take it, according to the World Health Organization. Adults allergic to any ingredient a COVID-19 also shouldn’t take that vaccine. Find the ingredients for Pfizer on the FDA fact sheet, as well as Moderna’s components.

Can my child get the COVID-19 shot at the same time as other vaccines?

Yes, according to the CDC, your child may get other vaccines when they go in for their coronavirus shot without waiting 14 days between appointments.

Should I worry about myocarditis?

Myocarditis and pericarditis, or inflammation in the heart, is a rare side effect linked to Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, mostly in adolescent males and young adults. After looking at data and weighing the risks and benefits, the CDC still recommends everyone, including children as young as 12, get vaccinated. According to a Washington Post report, the CDC and FDA are looking into Canadian data that suggests Moderna might carry a higher risk of myocarditis than Pfizer, mainly in young people.

When cases of myocarditis have occurred, Liu said, the cases have typically responded to treatment and resolved themselves, even when patients were hospitalized for a day or two.

«COVID-19 infection can have much more serious consequences for the heart than the vaccine,» Liu said.

The government in Singapore, where 82% of the population is fully vaccinated, recommends that people, especially adolescents and young men, refrain from strenuous exercise for a week after their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC recommends speaking to a doctor about when to return to sports or exercise following a diagnosis of myocarditis.

If I’m pregnant or breastfeeding, can I get vaccinated?

Yes, according to the CDC, because pregnant people are at much higher risk of severe COVID-19 and complications, including death, than people who aren’t pregnant.

Preliminary data shared by the CDC showed there was no increased risk of miscarriage among those who got an mRNA vaccine before the 20th week of pregnancy compared with those who didn’t.

My child can’t be vaccinated yet. What should we do?

When spending time with other families with children, it’s best if everyone continues to wear a mask, according to Harvard Health, and they should isolate themselves if there’s a COVID-19 exposure. Additionally, choosing more outdoor activities and avoiding crowds, even when outdoors, can help protect your kids. Parents and older siblings who are vaccinated should also mask up to prevent breakthrough infections that can spread to vulnerable people who aren’t as protected, including kids.

The CDC has prioritized in-person learning for students this fall, and it has guidance on prevention strategies schools should use to keep students and staff safe.

Correction, Oct. 25: A previous version of this story included a sentence implying incorrect information about available vaccines for children age 12 and older. Only Pfizer’s vaccine is currently available to kids ages 12 to 17.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

Technologies

You Can’t Trust Your Car’s Driving Assistance System Yet, AAA Report Finds

Both hands-on and hands-off systems required human intervention to avoid accidents in this study.

Technologies

Google’s AI Mode Is Getting New Agentic Features for Restaurant Reservations and More

AI Mode can now do most of the work to find dinner reservations for you.

Google’s AI Mode is getting new agentic capabilities and expanding to 180 new countries and territories around the world, Google announced Thursday. AI Mode allows you to ask questions directly to Google and it’ll kick off a series of searches on your behalf. From there, it will surface relevant information to your query without the need to do any of the deep research yourself. It changes the way you search for things online, and it’s getting even smarter with this latest rollout.

Powered by DeepMind’s Project Mariner, the latest additions bring us further into the agentic AI future we’ve been promised for some time, directly from a search box. Instead of just finding things for you, AI Mode can now do things for you, like finding dinner reservations, flights or concert tickets. The update also brings personalized recommendations and link-sharing capabilities for easier collaboration with friends and family.

Most of the new features are either limited to premium AI subscribers and tucked behind an experiment in Google Labs, but it might not take long before they’re a standard part of your future search experience.

Google did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for further comment.

Restaurant recommendations

Instead of searching for restaurant reservations and then clicking on a specific website to make a reservation, AI Mode surfaces everything you need to complete the action right there. Since it’s contextually aware, you can add specificities to your query that a typical Google search wouldn’t handle well.

You can add the type of cuisine, number of people, time and location to a single query, and AI Mode will get to work and display real-time restaurant reservation time slots to choose from.

Google says it’s partnered with OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster and several other companies to make finding and doing what you want easier, since you won’t have to put in the legwork yourself.

This feature is currently rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US who have enabled the specific experiment in Labs.

Personalized recommendations

Another experiment that’s currently available in the US (that also needs to be enabled in Labs) is personalized recommendations. Google says it’s starting with dining-related recommendations, which implies more options will be on the way in the future.

The experiment will use your past conversations with AI Mode, places you’ve interacted with on Search and Maps to provide suggestions tailored specifically to you.

Share AI Mode links with others for collaboration

If you’re planning a vacation or a party, you can now share your research directly with others with a new link-sharing feature built into AI Mode. People who interact with the link will be sent to the last response sent by AI Mode and can continue the conversation on their own to do more exploration on the topic. The original sender of the links can manage them and delete them at any time.

For more, don’t miss everything Google announced at its Pixel 10 event.

Technologies

IPhone or Android, Here’s How to Finally Escape That Endless Group Chat

Done with a group chat? Here’s how to ghost it on any service.

One reason people prefer group chats in Apple’s iMessage or RCS texting is the extra control and security these platforms provide. If everyone in your group is using iPhones, or if you’re on Android chatting through RCS, you’ll get features like typing indicators, high-quality media sharing, and the option to mute or leave a conversation when you need fewer notifications.

The biggest advantage is privacy. Both iMessage and RCS group chats offer end-to-end encryption, so your conversations stay secure. The only time that doesn’t apply is when a thread includes a mix of iPhone and Android users, which limits encryption support.

Knowing these differences can help you manage your chats more effectively, whether you’re keeping up with friends, planning events, or just looking for a little more control over your notifications.

And with RCS support with iOS 18, group chats that include a mix of iPhone and Android participants have more features than ever — but it’s not at the level you’ll experience when a conversation is fully on iMessage or Google Messages. «Green bubble chats» from an iPhone to an Android phone can now include typing indicators, higher-quality media and easier group chats.

However, RCS conversations between the iPhone and Android phones don’t include encryption now, but it should be added in a future update. This will hopefully give these conversations a similar level of privacy that we expect when using chat services like iMessage, WhatsApp or Signal.

Regardless of how you’re in a group chat with others, you can leave a chat. Here are the steps to leave any conversation from your phone’s texting app, regardless of whether it’s happening on iMessage, RCS or as a mixed MMS chat.

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Leaving group chats on an iPhone

You can leave group conversations on your iPhone in two ways. You can either mute a chat,which keeps you in a conversation but you no longer receive notifications about it, or you can outright leave and no longer have access to the chat.

On an iPhone, open Messages and go to the chat thread you want to leave. At the top of the screen are conversation controls, a group of icons with the participants. Tap this to open a pop-up menu. As long as your conversation has four or more participants, iOS gives you the ability to tap Leave this Conversation with red text. If your chat has three or fewer participants, though, the option is grayed out, but you can tap Hide Alerts to prevent the conversation from notifying you further. Tapping Hide Alerts also allows you to mute a conversation, letting you keep access to a chat without necessarily leaving it. These steps apply to both iMessage conversations and to those over RCS.

Hide and block MMS chats on an iPhone

Although you can’t officially leave MMS group chats, you can hide or block the conversation. It’s not as good as outright leaving a conversation (other participants will still see you as in it), but you at least have no personal evidence of the conversation continuing.

On an iPhone, visit the group chat and tap the conversation controls. Instead of seeing Leave this conversation, you will see the option to Delete and Block this conversation. If you’d rather just mute the conversation instead of deleting and blocking it, you can hit Hide Alerts to mute it.

Leave group chats on an Android phone

On an Android phone using Google Messages, visit the chat thread you want to leave. Tap the conversation’s name to bring up the Group Details menu. Within this menu is the Leave Group button. Unlike with iMessage, you can leave chats with as few as three participants.

If you want to just mute notifications, tap Notifications on the Group Details screen to bring up a window with notifications controls. This includes options to make the conversation stay Silent to prevent it from ringing your chat, and if you tap Lock Screen, a pop-up menu will give you the option to prevent notifications. Tap Don’t show notifications at all to enable.

Hide and block MMS chats on an Android phone

On an Android phone with Google Messages, follow the same steps to access options for controlling notifications. This includes visiting the MMS chat thread and then tapping either the name of the conversation or the names of the participants at the top to bring up the Group Details menu. You won’t see a Leave Group option like you did with an RCS thread, but you do get the same ability to tap Notifications to access controls for hiding the conversation. This includes the same options for turning the conversation to Silent and to select Don’t show notifications at all.

SMS vs. MMS vs. RCS

SMS stands for Short Message Service and debuted in 1992. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and supports sending photos, videos or other files and messages longer than 160 characters. MMS supports a group of people chatting in a single conversation thread, while SMS can text multiple people at once but is sent as individual messages to each person. RCS, which launched 15 years ago, is short for Rich Communication Services and can show typing indicators, read receipts and has end-to-end encryption.

While cross-platform chat apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram have better controls for conversations, encryption and privacy, regardless of the type of phone participants are using, they don’t support SMS, MMS or RCS. That’s why the default messaging app on most phones is still widely used, even if it means that a group chat is on a less feature-filled, unsecured standard like MMS.