US begins vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 against COVID-19

The United States entered a new phase of its vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, with inoculations now available to millions of children in elementary school, in what health authorities called a major achievement after more than 18 months of illnesses, hospitalizations, deaths, and school suspensions.

With the federal government promising enough vaccines to protect the nation’s 28 million children in that age range, pediatric offices, pharmacies, schools and clinics were poised to offer the vaccines after final approval Tuesday night.

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she doesn’t expect chaos similar to the initial launch of adult inoculations a year ago. The city hoped to have enough doses in just the first week to vaccinate nearly half of its 210,000 school-age children and many more doses afterward.

Children’s doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine broke two barriers Tuesday: receiving the recommendation of advisers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), followed by the green light from the agency’s director, the Rochelle Walensky.

The move means sleepovers, play dates and family reunions postponed for more than a year will be possible again for many children, along with fewer school disruptions.

“There are children in second grade who have never experienced a normal school year. Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change thatWalensky declared.

Thousands of pediatricians ordered doses ahead of time, and Pfizer began shipping shortly after a decision Friday by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize emergency use. Pfizer said it expects to make more than 19,000 shipments for a total of 11 million doses in the coming days and that millions more will be available weekly.

The vaccine — one-third the dose for adolescents and adults and administered with smaller needles — requires two doses within three weeks, plus two more weeks to achieve full immunity. That means children who get vaccinated now will be protected for Christmas.

“It is a big milestone for children between 5 and 11 years old because they are almost 40% of those under the age of 18”Said Dr. Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician in Decatur, Georgia, who received her first shipment Tuesday morning.

Many localities were planning mass vaccination events in the coming days, and while many pediatric offices expected strong demand at least initially, nearly two-thirds of parents interviewed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would wait or not vaccinate their children.

Walensky indicated that he understood the fears of the parents, but said: “We have taken the time to get it right”. He added that clinical trials in children did not show “serious incidentsAssociated with the vaccine.