According to the CDC[1], as of September 15, there have been only 357 COVID deaths in individuals between the ages of 5 and 18 in the US. I think it's fair to assume that the majority of these involved children with pre-existing conditions.<p>According to the American Academy of Pediatrics[2], as of September 9, even though children under the age of 18 now make up over a quarter of weekly COVID cases:<p>- "Among states reporting, children ranged from 1.6%-4.0% of their total cumulated hospitalizations, and 0.1%-1.9% of all their child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization"<p>- "Among states reporting, children were 0.00%-0.27% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 7 states reported zero child deaths"<p>- " In states reporting, 0.00%-0.03 of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death"<p>The Pfizer CEO's comment that "Since July, pediatric cases of COVID-19 have risen by about 240 percent in the U.S. — <i>underscoring the public health need for vaccination</i>" does not seem to be supported prima facie based on the hospitalization and death figures. The phrase "substantial threat" is hyperbole.<p>There could be an argument that vaccinating young children would help reduce transmission, but since we know that the Pfizer vaccine does not prevent infection and transmission in adults, approving the vaccine for young children without any meaningful data on how it affects transmission seems like overreach.<p>[1] <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-Focus-on-Ages-0-18-Yea/nr4s-juj3" rel="nofollow">https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-Focus-...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/" rel="nofollow">https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19...</a>