Pfizer/BioNTech’s new pediatric COVID-19 vaccine vials are seen on this undated handout photograph.
Pfizer | Reuters
The federal Covid-19 vaccine distribution program for kids ages 5 to 11 will probably be ‘absolutely up and working’ subsequent week if the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention approves Pfizer and BioNTech’s doses for that age group, White Home coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients stated Monday.
The Biden administration has already begun transferring 15 million vaccine doses from Pfizer to facilitate immunizations of youthful youngsters at pediatricians’ workplaces, pharmacies, hospitals and well being facilities, Zients stated at a White Home Covid briefing. Vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds might start this week, Zients stated. Nonetheless, the CDC should first authorize the photographs after the company’s advisory committee meets Tuesday to debate Pfizer’s vaccine knowledge for younger youngsters.
“Beginning the week of Nov. 8, the youngsters vaccination program will probably be absolutely up and working,” Zients stated. “Mother and father will be capable of schedule appointments at handy websites they know and belief to get their children vaccinated.”
The U.S. has acquired sufficient Pfizer doses to vaccinate the entire nation’s 28 million youngsters ages 5 to 11 in opposition to the virus, Zients stated. The administration is working with over 20,000 well being suppliers to distribute the photographs, Zients stated, including that the method will launch with 15 million photographs earlier than “thousands and thousands of extra doses” grow to be accessible every week.
The Meals and Drug Administration accepted Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for five to 11-year-olds on Friday, reporting that 146 youngsters in that age group had died from the coronavirus as of Oct. 17. Pfizer researchers informed the FDA’s advisory committee that their product was over 90% efficient at blocking symptomatic Covid instances in younger children.
CDC officers stated weight problems, lung illness and neurological situations had been among the comorbidities in youngsters that would trigger harmful Covid issues throughout a presentation earlier than the FDA’s advisory panel. Covid outbreaks have led to over 2,000 faculty closures – impacting greater than 1 million youngsters and 68,000 lecturers – nationwide since August, they stated.
Youngsters ages 5 to 11 characterize roughly 9% of the nation’s reported Covid instances, based on FDA knowledge offered to the panel.
