University of Michigan virologist played a crucial role on the FDA’s COVID vaccine advisory panel when it came to the recommended authorization of COVID boosters, and vaccines for children.

Pfizer has released information about the efficacy of vaccines for children ages five to eleven.

Health experts are split over whether COVID vaccine booster shots are needed and there will be a pivotal vote on Friday (Sept. 17).

“This is going to work,” said Dr. Mark Navin, a medical ethicist at Oakland University. “The immediate downside is the political pushback. This is going to polarize vaccination policy along party lines.”

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"There will be a variant that will be more transmissible in children,” Dr. Fuller said. “I’m not saying that will happen, but I’m saying the nature is that that could happen."

With the FDA granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15, many parents are unsure how to move forward.

Younger adults and children are being hospitalized with COVID-19.

The FDA advisory committee that recommended the Pfizer vaccine largely agreed it was safe and effective. One of those No votes came from Dr. A. Oveta Fuller, a virologist and viral pathogen researcher at the University of Michigan. Ad“I was aware that there were not that many people of color, not very many African Americans and I remember thinking surely this is so fascinating. And so, with some help of others we founded a chapter of the National Technical Association, which is a stem across the organization of African Americans. This brings us back to her yes vote for the emergency use authorization for the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines and the no vote to Pfizer.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic kept the community on edge and gave us plenty to write about -- not all of it good, and not all of it bad. READ: 10 most-read All About Ann Arbor stories of 2020 that weren’t COVID relatedHere’s a look back at the 10 most-read COVID related All About Ann Arbor stories in 2020:1. Experts project aggressive social distancing could drastically reduce Michigan COVID-19 cases by MayFrom March: Michigan Medicine clinicians said forecasting models suggested that aggressive social distancing could drastically reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in Michigan by early May. Washtenaw County: COVID-19 cases double, community spread ‘now likely’From March: On Thursday, March 19, the number of COVID-19 cases in the county doubled to 14, according to the Health Department. VIEW: Possible Washtenaw County coronavirus (COVID-19) exposure locationsFrom March: Health officials released a list of possible exposure locations that had been visited by residents of Oakland and Washtenaw counties who had the COVID-19 coronavirus.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Friday evening, the second vaccine to be authorized in the country. Prior to the authorization, the FDA advisory panel voted 20-0 with one abstention on Thursday to recommend the vaccine. UPDATE: US clears Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, 2nd shot in arsenalDr. A Oveta Fuller, a virologist and viral pathogen researcher at the University of Michigan, voted “No” to recommend the Pfizer vaccine. However, she said she voted “Yes” this time for Moderna. It seemed like their study was set up to meet that at the minimum but it wasn’t set up to do a whole lot else,” Fuller said.