CDC: Trick Or Treating With 'Limit' Is Safe For Kids This Halloween

KEY POINTS

Children can go trick-or-treating in small groups, says CDC director
Pediatric COVID-19 infections are surging across the U.S.
Over 5.5 million children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic

Children can go trick-or-treating for Halloween this year as long as they follow a few safety guidelines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday.

Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said children can go trick or treating on Halloween as long as they stay in small groups in outdoor settings.

“If you're able to be outdoors, absolutely. Limit crowds. I wouldn't necessarily go to a crowded- crowded Halloween party, but I think that we should be able to let our kids go trick or treating in small groups. And- and I hope that we can do that this year,” she told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, according to a transcript of the interview.

Walensky’s remarks come even as the weekly number of COVID-19 infections surges among children aged 5 to 11 following the resumption of in-person classes in schools.

As of Sept. 16, over 5.5 million children were diagnosed with COVID-19, with 226,000 cases reported in the week ending Sept. 9. At least 25.7% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases in the week ending Sept. 16 were also in children, according to an analysis by The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Data published Sunday by the CDC also showed that at least 290 children are being hospitalized with the novel coronavirus every day.

Many children are not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, only people aged 12 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

However, the drugmaker Monday announced that it found smaller doses of its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine as safe and effective in generating a “robust” immune response when given in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11.

The data, which included findings from over 2,200 children, would be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators in hopes of getting an emergency use authorization in time for Halloween.

“Depending on how long the FDA takes to review the application, whether it’s a four-week review or a six-week review, you could have a vaccine available to children as early as probably by the end of October,” former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.