Texas Toddler Ineligible For Vaccine, Dies Of COVID-19

A child in El Paso, Texas, who was too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, has become the city's youngest fatality to the virus, health officials announced Thursday.

The unidentified child, who was under the age of 5, tested positive for the coronavirus and had underlying medical conditions, KTSM 9 reported, citing officials with the Texas Department of Public Health.

She was the first pediatric death in El Paso caused by COVID-19, added the outlet.

"We are saddened to learn about the death of a child, and send our deepest condolences to the family members. This is a sad reminder of how COVID can cause severe disease and complications that can lead to death on those who suffer from chronic medical conditions," City-County local health authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza was quoted as saying by KFOX 14.

Following the girl's death, health officials urged children aged 5 and up to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, kids 12 and above were encouraged to get their booster shots as soon as possible to keep themselves and others safe.

"We continue to stress the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted for those eligible, and in particular, adults caring for children with medical complexities, especially those children who are not able to receive the vaccine yet," Ocaranza said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of any COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 5.

A meeting between the FDA and Pfizer to discuss the approval of a vaccine for the excluded age group was delayed last week, pending additional data on a proposed three-dose setup.

"The data that we saw made us realize that we needed to see data from a third dose in the ongoing trial in order to make a determination that we could proceed with doing an authorization," Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA’s vaccine division, said.

Not counting the girl, El Paso has reported COVID-19-related deaths of three people below the age of 20, according to the city's most recent pandemic report released Monday.

The previous youngest person to have died in the city after testing positive for the coronavirus was an 18-year-old man, who passed away in December, according to the El Paso Matters.

Overall, the United States has reported a total of 78,060,327 COVID-19 cases and 926,497 virus-related deaths, data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.