WASHINGTON DC – White House officials confirmed that millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines for children have been ordered in anticipation of possible federal authorization next week.
The government allowed pharmacies and states to start ordering last week, with 5 million doses initially available, half of them made by Pfizer and the other half of the vaccine produced by Moderna, senior government officials said.
As of this week, about 1.45 million of Pfizer’s 2.5 million available doses, and about 850,000 of Moderna’s available injections, have been ordered, officials said. More orders are expected in the coming days.
Young children are the last group of Americans who have not been recommended to get vaccinated against COVID-19. As many as 20 million US children under the age of 5 would be eligible for vaccination if the government authorizes one or both shots.
It’s not clear how popular the vaccines will be. A recent survey suggests that only 1 in 5 parents of young children would get their children vaccinated right away.
And public health officials have been disappointed by the number of older children who have been eligible for vaccines for months yet to be vaccinated: Fewer than a third of children ages 5 to 11 have received the two recommended doses, According to the government.
Two retail pharmacy chains, CVS and Walmart, were responsible for more than a quarter of the waste in the US during that period.
“As we go down the age groups, we see less and less acceptance” of vaccines, said Dr. Lucia Abascal of the California Department of Public Health.
Pfizer has asked the FDA to authorize three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine For children from 6 months to 4 years. Each dose is one tenth of the amount adults receive.
Moderna has asked the FDA to authorize two injections for children ages 6 months to 5 years.each of which contains a quarter of the dose administered to adults.
Pfizer plans to turn over the data to US regulators later this week in a move to allow younger children to receive the vaccines.
The Food and Drug Administration authorizes the use of vaccines, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues recommendations to doctors and the public about their use.
An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. to review the data of the two companies. Officials say they expect an FDA decision soon after that meeting.
A CDC advisory committee is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday, with a CDC decision expected soon after.
Vaccines should begin to be delivered on June 21White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told reporters last week.
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