Kids Under 5 COVID Vaccinations: See NJ's Latest Timeline

NEW JERSEY — It will take time before the Food and Drug Administration decides whether to grant emergency-use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages six months to four years. But New Jersey officials "will watch (the situation) very closely," said Gov. Phil Murphy.

"While a final decision may be several weeks away, this is a good development," Murphy said at Wednesday's coronavirus news briefing.

Related article: Kid, Infant COVID Vaccine Update: How Soon Will It Arrive In NJ

Meanwhile, New Jersey has seen increases in in-school transmission of the virus. Murphy said schools that went remote returning to in-person instruction was a factor.

Pfizer and BioNTech took the first step toward a COVID-19 vaccine potentially becoming available for children younger than 5. The companies submitted their clinical-trial data Tuesday for the FDA to review.

The process for approving Pfizer's vaccine for kids ages 5-11 took just over four weeks.

The FDA advisory panel will meet Feb. 15 to evaluate clinical-trial data. The agency will then weigh the advisory panel's vote and decide whether to extend emergency authorization for the age group. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will follow with its own advisory-panel vote and then a recommendation.

From Jan. 25 to Monday, the New Jersey Department of Health reported 398 K-12 student cases stemming from in-school transmission. The agency tallied 252 from Jan. 18-24, 74 from Jan. 11-17 and 11 from Jan. 4-10.

"Over the past two weeks, as some schools moved back to all in-person instruction, we have also seen an increase in the rates of in-school transmission," Murphy said. "We continue to take a multi-layered approach to safety to minimize the spread while everyone is in their school building."

But overall, cases among students and school staff have decreased in the past month. State officials reported 24.97 student cases and 58.55 employee cases per 1,000 people from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2. Those figures reduced from Jan. 17-23 to 10.32 student cases and 12.5 staff cases per 1,000 people. The figures include infections transmitted in and out of school.

Murphy said the increase in school outbreaks is a reason he's maintained the mask mandate in K-12 facilities. But he reiterated that he may drop the mandate before the school year ends.

"As I've said over the past week or so — and my conviction has only gone up," Murphy said, "I look to a time in this school year when we are no longer masking in our schools."