Suzanne Judd, Ph.D., Epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the latest on the coronavirus pandemic.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: There's good news today. Pfizer says that its vaccine does work for kids ages 5 to 11. Of course, the FDA still needs to sign off on this.

And the need here is urgent. We now have children accounting for more than one in five new COVID cases. I want to bring in Suzanne Judd now. She is a doctor, epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health

Dr. Judd, good to see you. So there are going to be lots of questions from parents regarding this vaccine from Pfizer. First off, it's not the same dose that adults would be getting that they would be giving the children, right?

SUZANNE JUDD: That's right. It's a slightly different dose, but it's still a two-shot regimen, three weeks apart.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And what, what are the early tests showing?

SUZANNE JUDD: The early tests show that it's very safe, that there are not significant side effects from the vaccine, and that it leads to an increase in immune function, because kids don't tend to get COVID as quickly as adults. It was very tough for Pfizer to study whether or not it prevents hospitalizations and infection. So what they were actually looking at was whether or not it caused an immune response. And it was very successful in doing that.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And I think you just said-- I mean, for some folks out there who hear this news and say, you know what, not my kid, because look at the numbers, kids overall, at a lower risk of severe illness or death than the greater population. So why do we need to vaccinate these young, young kids?

SUZANNE JUDD: That's a really good question. Although, kids are at a lower risk, there are still major complications from COVID. We regularly give vaccinations for diseases that have fairly low risks, like chickenpox, because there are certain kids.

And you just never know if it's your kid that have very strong reactions to certain viruses. They can wind up with multi-organ failure. And nobody wants that when there's a safe, effective vaccine that keeps that from happening.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So talk to us about what happens next here. And how soon could kids ages 5 to 11 be offered this Pfizer vaccine?

SUZANNE JUDD: Next it goes to the FDA, and the FDA looks to see if they agree with what Pfizer put together. Do they do they agree that the results of the trial say what Pfizer is saying it says? And if they do agree, they'll put it on emergency use authorization. That could happen as early as later this fall. We're still a long ways out for the kids under age five, but it is possible that by the end of the fall the vaccine will be available to children 5 to 11.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You know, here in New York City, the mayor just announced today that public schools are going to start testing much more frequently. They're going to get very aggressive with their testing. They've seen small pockets within the city, where there have been COVID outbreaks, And some schools have had to go remote again. What's your thought on that? And should we be just upping testing across the board in schools across the country?

SUZANNE JUDD: Testing across the board and schools would be great. That would be a way for us to identify folks that are sick to keep them out of school, because lots of kids are asymptomatic. And it's tough to control a disease that doesn't have symptoms.

So testing is a really good way to do that. It's often challenging, because you have to figure out when are the kids going to test, or are they testing at school, or are they testing at home?

How do you get the results in? So it's the implementation of a testing program that often winds up falling flat in schools, at least so far. But hopefully, they've got the resources behind it. And they'll be able to actually do what the testing is designed to do.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Dr, I want to get your opinion on something we heard from the Biden administration. The president is expected to officially announce that the US is going to be easing travel restrictions for foreigners, who are fully vaccinated, that they'll be able to come into this country. I know the Biden administration has been under a lot of pressure from European leaders to open up our country to foreign visitors, even if they are fully vaccinated. Given the situation we're in right now, Dr, do you think it's the smart thing to do?

SUZANNE JUDD: I'd love to see testing in place of vaccination. Delta just released some interesting data from their Atlanta to Rome route. And they showed that tests within three days of arrival have a really high potential of finding people that might be infectious.

We know that even if you're vaccinated, it's possible that the person can spread COVID. So it's a start. And I know that we need to get the travel industry going again, but I'd really like to see that vaccination combined with a strong testing program.