On Tuesday, a medical panel of US government advisors endorsed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 5-to-11-year-olds. 

The independent experts concluded that the known benefits, both directly to kids' health and ending the disruption of school, outweighed the known risks.

After a day of presentations and debate, the final vote was 17 in favor of vaccinating children and one abstention from it. 

The Food and Drug Administration, which convened the meeting, is expected to give its formal green light soon, making 28 million US children eligible for only one vaccine shot by mid-November.

"It is pretty clear to me that the benefits do outweigh the risk when I hear about children who are being put in the ICU, who are having long term outcomes after their COVID, and children are dying," said Amanda Cohn of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who voted yes.

Earlier, top FDA vaccine scientist Peter Marks said younger children were "far from being spared the harm of COVID-19," adding that, in this group, there had been 1.9 million infections and 8,300 hospitalizations, roughly a third of which required intensive care.

There have also been around 100 deaths, making it a top 10 leading cause of death, he added. 

Cuban authorities launched a national campaign on September 3 to vaccinate children aged 2 to 18 against COVID-19 with locally manufactured vaccines Abdala and Soberana, a condition set by the government in order to reopen schools for in-person instruction amid a spike in infections.