CDC Director Answers Children's Questions About COVID Vaccine on NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition

Children are learning all about the COVID vaccines.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in children ages 5 through 11. The final step in its authorization will now allow this age group to receive two smaller doses of the vaccine (10 micrograms compared to 30 for people aged 12 and up) using smaller needles, given 21 days apart.

The CDC's decision now makes Pfizer's COVID vaccine the first in the country available to children under 12. More than 360,000 kids between 5 and 11 received their first dose in the first five days since the approval. (Pfizer's vaccine was authorized for children 12 through 15 in May.)

In a clip from NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition, shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, answers children's questions about the vaccines.

"I have a very important question about the coronavirus vaccine: Do kids need booster shots?" a girl from New Orleans asks.

"We are learning about this disease every single day," Walensky says. "We do not yet have evidence that children need boosters. Get your first dose, get your second dose, and we'll continue to follow the science."

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Then, two children from Japan ask Walensky whether kids will need COVID vaccine shots every year.

"What I would say is we are still learning so much about COVID-19. We will continue to follow the science. Get your two doses now," Walensky says. "There are some vaccines that you are done after your first series of doses, and there are some where your immune system needs a little reminder. We will get back to you as soon as we have that science."

This special episode of NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition airs Thursday at 4 p.m. ET on NBCNews.com, NBC News NOW, NBC News apps (TVs and mobile), the NBC News YouTube channel, and Peacock.

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