The United States has begun rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to young children
Children's COVID-19 vaccines began shipping on Friday
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said the United States has begun distributing COVID-19 vaccines nationwide to children as young as 6 months old. , vaccine supply will improve in the coming days.
Late last week, U.S. regulators authorized Moderna Inc's two-dose vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years old and Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) - BioNTech's 6-dose vaccine. Three doses of vaccine are available for children aged 6 months to 4 years.
It's unclear how many parents will vaccinate their youngest children.
Pharmacist Kaitlin Harring (left) inoculates three-year-old Fletcher Pack with Moderna COVID-19 while sitting on her mother McKenzie Pack's lap at a Walgreens pharmacy in Lexington, South Carolina, Monday, June 20, 2022. Pneumonia vaccine. ((AP Photo/Sean Rayford/AP Newsroom)
A survey released in May by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only one in five parents with children under five said they planned to raise their children once they became eligible. Vaccinate them 'immediately'. According to US data, only about 29% of children aged 5 to 11 have been fully vaccinated since the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved in October.
Chinmay Hegde is a 14-month-old daughter. The U.S. authorization was a huge relief, the father told Reuters outside Children's National Hospital in Washington. His daughter was the first to be vaccinated at the hospital on Tuesday.
"I feel like we can travel now," he said. to travel without feeling too much pressure," he said, citing planned family reunions in Canada in July.
Children who started receiving the Pfizer vaccine this week can receive their third dose on Sept. 12 or later the week Those who get their first dose of the Moderna vaccine this week can be vaccinated as early as July 19, said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert and public health editor at Kaiser Health News. , parents need to consider the trade-off between the number of injections and the risk of side effects
A pharmacist holds a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in West Haven, Connecticut, USA, February 17, 2021 (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo). / Reuters)
Moderna ’s vaccine uses a larger dose than Pfizer ’s, and is more likely to induce fever
“These are not dangerous side effects, and they are OK with acetaminophen and other drugs. controlled," said Gounder, a former member of Joe Biden's COVID-19 transition team.
But some parents may feel like "'Well, even three doses of the vaccine will minimize the risk of fever,'" she said.
Jha tweeted on Monday that the vaccine rollout for young children would be different than for other age groups because there would be no mass vaccination sites, but more inoculations would be done in doctors' offices.
He wrote on Twitter: "Parents are clear that they want to vaccinate their youngest children in familiar settings - doctor's offices, pharmacies, clinics and children's hospitals."
Jha said the vaccine was released on Friday and Shipments will begin on Saturday, adding that more doctors' offices and hospitals will begin receiving vaccines on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Three-year-old Fletcher Pack holds a lollipop after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a Walgreens store in Lexington, South Carolina, Monday, June 20, 2022 ((AP Photo/Sean Rayford/ AP Newsroom)
Not all pharmacies will offer the vaccine to everyone in this age group.CVS Health Inc (CVS.N) will offer the vaccine to children 18 months and older, while Walmart Inc (WMT.N) and Rite Aid Inc (RAD.N) will offer the vaccine to children 23 and older. vaccine.
