But as dire as the situation is with adult vaccinations and boosters, it is far worse for childhood vaccinations. Although vaccination for kids aged 5 to 11 became available late last October, barely more than a quarter (29 percent) of them are protected today. Nearly 20 million Americans aged 5 to 11 remain unprotected. More than 13 million kids have been infected, over 8,000 hospitalized, and more than a thousand are dead.

The rampant spread of newer, more transmissible COVID-19 variants makes these kids sitting ducks.

Some vaccine experts are now recommending additional boosters for kids aged 5 to 11. With the Moderna submission and ongoing communication from Pfizer, the push remains furious for the FDA to authorize vaccines for children under 5. We expect the agency to act early next month. But given the extraordinarily low uptake among 5-to-11-year-olds (and low rates among adolescents), we also expect pediatric vaccines to frequently sit on the shelf.