US Begins Rollout of Childhood COVID Vaccines After FDA and CDC Approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the greenlight last week to Moderna and Pfizer regarding the emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5.
The latest EUAs make vaccines available for an additional 19 million young children.
In just days following the EUA, the Biden administration ramped up the supply of vaccines for local pharmacies and pediatrician offices.
The earliest shipments arrived on Monday, and a number of pop-up clinics are expected to be located at children’s museums, libraries and child care sites.
An operational plan released by the White House on June 9 indicates that nearly 10 million vaccine doses for young children have already been secured by the Biden administration, and more federal efforts are underway to make those doses available to providers in the coming weeks.
The doses come in package sizes of 100 and include supplies like small needles for health care providers to serve younger populations.
Whether or not parents will be lining up to vaccinate their young children is unclear.
A poll published in May from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that just 18% of parents of children under 5 planned to get their kids vaccinated “right away.”
Another 38% would “wait and see.”
More than one quarter — 27% — would not get their young children vaccinated at all.
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