evidence: As with its adult vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech was the first to cross the finish line and offer a Food and Drug Administration-authorized COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 through 11. [...] In its benefit-risk assessment, the FDA modeled a series of scenarios assuming the myocarditis rate in vaccinated kids 5 through 11 years old is the same as in 12- to 15-year-olds. The agency then incorporated different variables, such as different levels of protection afforded by the vaccine, along with different levels of coronavirus circulation and COVID-19 death rates in children. According to the model, the vaccine prevents more bad outcomes from COVID-19 than it causes in all scenarios, except for the one in which viral transmission falls to its low point in June 2021. In that case, there are more hospitalizations due to vaccine-related myocarditis than those prevented from COVID-19, but because vaccine-related myocarditis is usually less serious than typical myocarditis, the FDA said the overall benefits still might outweigh the risks. [...] The trial data did not show differences in neutralizing antibody levels in 9- to 11-year-old children versus 5- to 6-year-old kids. Of the three cases of mild COVID-19 in the kids who were vaccinated, two were in 10-year-olds and one was in an 11-year-old. It is unclear whether that is indicative of anything, though, as this could reflect the higher exposure to the virus among older children, as older kids in the placebo group were also more likely to fall ill.