Edwards said he based the decision on the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not fully approved the vaccines for people under age 16.
The governor said his administration will continue to recommend all children age 5 and over get the vaccine, a recommendation the LHD endorsed Wednesday in a news release.
In their statements, the governor and the LHD implied COVID-19 vaccines for people over age 16 are fully approved. However, while the FDA did grant full licensing to Pfizer’s Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccines — for people 16 and older and 18 and older, respectively — those vaccines are not available in the U.S.