Children ages 5 to 11 in the United States will soon be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at their pediatrician’s office, pharmacies and even at their school, the White House announced, detailing plans for when the Pfizer vaccine is licensed for children. smaller in a few weeks.
Federal regulators will meet over the next two weeks to weigh the safety and effectiveness of low doses for the approximately 28 million children in that age group.
Hours after formal clearance, which is expected to occur after clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and an advisory panel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDS) meets Nov. 2-3, millions of doses will begin shipping to providers across the country, along with the smallest needles to inject into children.
A few days after that, the vaccine will be ready to be applied on a large scale.
“We are completing operational planning to ensure that vaccinating boys ages 5 to 11 is available, easy and practical,” said Jeff Zients, White House Coordinator for COVID-19. “We are going to be ready, awaiting the decision of the FDA and the CDC.”
Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses three weeks apart, and you need to wait two weeks for full protection to begin, which means that the kids who get it first will already be fully protected by Christmas.
Some parents are anxious for their children to be inoculated.
Dr. Sterling Ransone said his office in rural Deltaville, Virginia, is already receiving calls from people making appointments for their children and saying, “I want my vaccine now.”
“Judging by the number of calls, it seems to me that we will be crowded the first few weeks,” said Ransone, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Justin Shady, a television and film writer in Chicago, said his 6-year-old daughter Gray was nervous when he told her she would be vaccinated soon. But he decided to bribe her with a trip to Disney World, and “she’s more than willing.”
The family likes to travel. “We just want to see the world again,” Shady said.
As for children under 5 years old, Pfizer and Moderna are studying the application of their vaccines to babies up to 6 months old, and the results are expected before the end of the year.
The administration of President Joe Biden has stressed that the national campaign to extend vaccination protection to children under 12 years of age will not be like 10 months ago, when dose shortages and capacity problems meant that many Americans had to wait patiently. .
The country now has an ample supply of Pfizer vaccines for children who will soon be eligible, White House officials said, and they have been working for months to ensure widespread availability of the vaccines. About 15 million doses will be shipped to providers in the United States in the first week after approval, the White House noted.
More than 25,000 pediatricians and primary care providers have already signed up to inject the COVID-19 vaccine into children, the White House said, in addition to the tens of thousands of pharmacies already giving injections to adults.
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