An expert panel on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend the US Food and Drug Administration authorise the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11, saying the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.

Authorisation for that age group would be an important regulatory step toward reaching about 28 million children for inoculation, most of them back in school for in-person learning.

The vaccine could be available to the younger age group as soon...