Moderna said it is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine.

The US drug company is alleging that mRNA technology it developed before the pandemic was copied.

The lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified financial damages, was filed in the US and Germany.

Pfizer said the company had not yet received the legal documents and were unable to comment at this time.

White House COVID-⁠19 response coordinator Ashish Jha on Monday heralded the recent authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for kids under the age of 5, saying it gives parents “two good choices.”

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 5, the last group of people in the U.S. to be permitted to receive coronavirus immunizations.

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 18 backed COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months of age.

The advisers unanimously voted to advise the CDC to recommend all children, save for those who have contraindications to the vaccines, from 6 months through 5 years of age get the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, both of which are built on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will now decide whether or not to accept the advice.

A key CDC advisory committee unanimously voted to support a recommendation that Moderna and Pfizer COVID shots be allowed for children as young as six months old.

Why it matters: If CDC Director Rochelle Walensky agrees, the shots could be in little arms as early as next week.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Saturday endorsed Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines for young children, the last step before Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky can issue her final signoff.

The unanimous recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices followed the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the shots on Friday.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines for children as young as 6 months. Shots should be available next week, which will provide some parents a long overdue tool to protect their children from covid.

The rapid development of approaches to combating Covid-19 has changed how the pandemic affects our lives. While there are now a number of safe and effective layers of protection for adults to reduce their risk of the worst impacts of Covid-19, young children remain relatively unshielded.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, also a retired neurosurgeon, Thursday on Newsmax urged "common sense" when considering COVID-19 vaccinations for children under the age of 5, after advisers for the Food and Drug Administration recommended the shots be approved.

"There are some people who are very concerned and they want the vaccine, and I'm glad that it would be available for them," Carson said on Newsmax's "National Report." "The problem I have is, trying to create an environment where you push people into having to have the vaccine."

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for kids as young as six months old, finding them both safe and effective.

"Many parents, caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age. As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a press release Friday.

U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week.

The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18 million youngsters — are eligible for the shots, about 1 1/2 years after the vaccines first became available in the U.S. for adults, who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic.