The US prepares to vaccinate the little ones against COVID

Authorities have received millions of orders for COVID-19 vaccines intended for young children ahead of possible federal authorization next week, White House officials said.

The government last week allowed pharmacies and states to begin ordering, and 5 million doses are already available, half from Pfizer and half from Moderna, the officials added.

Of Pfizer’s 2.5 million doses on hand, some 1.45 million have already been ordered, in addition to some 850,000 of Moderna’s, the sources said. More orders are expected in the coming days.

Children under the age of 5 are the last group left to receive vaccines in the United States. Some 20 million kids would be eligible to receive the inoculation if the government authorizes it.

It will be necessary to see if the vaccines are used. A recent survey indicated that only one in five parents would go immediately to vaccinate their children.

Apart from that, the authorities are disappointed by the low number of older children who have come to receive it despite the fact that they can receive the vaccine for months: less than a third of all children between the ages of 5 and 11 have received the vaccine. two doses, according to official figures.

“The lower the age, the lower the vaccination rate,” said Dr. Lucía Abascal, of the California Department of Public Health.

Pfizer has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize three doses for children between 6 months and 4 years of age. Doses are one-tenth the potency of the adult dose.

Moderna has asked the FDA to authorize two doses for children ages 6 months to 5 years, each one-fourth the strength of the adult dose.

The FDA is the one that authorizes the use of vaccines, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues recommendations to doctors and the general public on their use.

An FDA advisory committee will meet Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to review the data from the two companies. Most likely, the decision will come shortly after that meeting, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A CDC advisory commission will meet on Friday and Saturday and that decision is expected soon after.

If the vaccines are approved, the children can start being inoculated on June 21, Ashish Jha, the White House coordinator for the pandemic response, said last week.

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