USA Prepares Plan to Vaccinate Children 5-11 Years Against COVID-19

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WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Wednesday outlined its plan to vaccinate millions of American children ages 5 to 11 as soon as they are cleared to inject COVID-19, preparing doses and preparing sites ahead of the busy Christmas season.

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Unlike the mass vaccination centers used in the initial launch of the COVID-19 vaccine, the White House said it is working to establish clinics in more than 100 children’s hospital systems across the country, as well as doctors’ offices, pharmacies and potentially schools.

If the vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE gets broader clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration, the plan aims to ensure prompt and equitable distribution, the White House said.

FDA officials are reviewing Pfizer / BioNTech’s application seeking authorization for its 2-dose vaccine for younger children, and its external advisory panel is scheduled to comment on October 26. The FDA normally follows the advice of its panel, but is not required to do so. do it.

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Advisers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will weigh in on the vaccine recommendations at a meeting on November 2-3, helping inform a final decision by its director.

“If the FDA and CDC authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to receive injections in weapons,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters, adding that the government had 15 million doses scheduled for ship across the country, and millions more would come out in the weeks that followed.

Once licensed, approximately 28 million more children in the United States would be eligible to receive what would be the first US COVID-19 vaccine for younger children. The Pfizer / BioNTech injection is now available for people ages 12 to 17, and companies are still studying it for children under the age of 5.

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Zients said the administration had worked with Pfizer to modify the packaging of the pediatric doses to make it easier for them to administer to children, including the provision of smaller needles.

While children have a lower rate of death from COVID-19, many face long-term illnesses and symptoms that are still being studied. Many adults who have doubted or opposed the COVID-19 vaccine, and even some who did not oppose the vaccine themselves, are expected to resist giving their children the vaccine.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters that the agency would continue to recommend the use of masks in schools even when the vaccine is available to children.

Walensky said the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the United States dropped about 16% to about 75,500 cases per day. The seven-day average of hospitalizations dropped about 11% to about 6,000 per day, and the seven-day average of deaths per day dropped about 3% to 1,200.