Pfizer and BioNTech have officially asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11. The FDA is expected to rule on the request by the end of the month, meaning some 28 million children may soon be able to get vaccinated. The number of children infected by COVID has soared in recent months with the spread of the Delta variant. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children accounted for about a quarter of all infections last month.

In other news on the pandemic, a new study in the journal Pediatrics has found roughly 140,000 children lost a parent or caregiver during the first 16 months of the pandemic. The study found Black, Latinx and Indigenous children were impacted the most.