It is expected that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will authorize COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 in the upcoming weeks, and the government already has plans in place to distribute the shots. Rates of hospitalization among children are higher now than earlier in the pandemic mainly because of the highly contagious Delta variant, and officials want to ensure that as many young children as possible get vaccinated quickly.
According to The Hill, the White House announced Wednesday that it has procured enough doses to vaccinate the 28 million children in this age category. The distribution plan will include more than 25,000 pediatricians’ offices, community health care centers, schools, and pharmacies to make it more kid-friendly than the mass distribution centers that first offered vaccines to adults.
There will also be vaccination sites at more than 100 children’s hospital systems, said the administration, thanks to a collaborative effort with the Children’s Hospital Association. They will be set up in November and operate until the end of the year, says The Hill.
“Parents know and trust children’s hospitals to be there for their children’s medical needs, and these vaccination efforts will be no different,” said the government fact sheet. “Pediatricians, pediatric specialists, nurses and team members will administer the vaccine to kids in trusted, family-friendly settings that serve kids every day.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE submitted data to the FDA asking for the green light to authorize their vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 earlier this month. The WSJ noted that state and local officials determine the vaccination requirements for school children, and California is the only state that insists upon COVID-19 vaccines for all eligible students.
“Kids have different needs than adults and our operational planning is geared to meet these specific needs, including offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust,” said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients on Wednesday. In total, the U.S. government bought 65 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine, which appeared to be both safe and effective in late-stage clinical trials. While the lower-dose vaccines generated sufficient levels of antibodies, they did not trigger myocarditis, or heart inflammation, nor did they cause significant side effects, such as fever and chills.
If authorized, kids would receive two injections of the vaccines three weeks apart, just like adolescents and adults, but at a reduced dosage, says the WSJ.