The director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has backed broad use of Pfizer's and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, clearing the way for shots to go into young arms soon, Reuters reports.

The announcement comes hours after the advisers to the US CDC unanimously supported the move, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Much of their discussion stemmed from rare cases of heart inflammation that have been linked to the vaccine, particularly in young men.

"We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a Covid-19 vaccine," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in the statement.

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