US to vaccinate 28 million children ages 5-11 against COVID-19 since November

The United States Government announced on Wednesday its plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to children between 5 and 11 years old as soon as the competent authorities authorize it.

The goal of the US Government is that the immunization of minors is more efficient than that of adults, whose beginning ten months ago was marked by the shortage of doses that made many have to wait to be vaccinated.

In this regard, the White House explained in a statement that it has already secured sufficient doses for the 28 million children between 5 and 11 years old who will be able to receive them.

The announcement of the plan comes just days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) make a decision on the supply of the vaccine from the Pfizer-BioNTech consortium to minors.

Specifically, an FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet on October 26 to examine the serum and the CDC has met for November 2 and 3.

As soon as authorization is given, in just the first week, the Government will distribute 15 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, which will serve to administer the first dose to half of the minors, indicated the coordinator of the response against COVID- 19 of the White House, Jeffrey Zients, during a press conference.

In total, the Administration has secured 65 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is administered in two separate injections and which, in the case of minors, is made up of one third of the serum of adults.

“Children have different needs than adults and our operational plan is designed to meet those needs, including offering vaccines in places that children and their parents know and trust,” stressed Zients.

For this reason, the White House has helped 25,000 pediatricians and family doctors prepare to administer the biological, which is in addition to tens of thousands of pharmacies, hospitals and clinics that have already been vaccinating adults and plan to continue doing so with minors. .

Hundreds of schools and social centers will also receive funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to immunize children.

The White House is also helping hospitals organize, along with churches and social centers, immunization drives at night or on weekends so that parents can take their children for vaccinations when it is convenient for them.

In addition, there will be vaccination clinics in schools and the Government will launch a public education campaign to inform parents and answer their questions.

In addition, the White House will work with local authorities so that health personnel have smaller needles for injections, specific for children.

In May, the US and Canada were the first countries to approve the Pfizer injection for teens 12 and older. That same month, the European Medicines Agency gave it its approval for minors between 12 and 15 years old, although then each country of the European Union (EU) has been advancing at a different pace.

China allows vaccination with the Sinovac product from 3 years of age, and Chile has it authorized from 6 years of age.

To date, 189 million inhabitants over 12 years of age have been immunized against COVID-19 (they have the complete guideline), which is equivalent to 66.8% of the population, according to CDC data. (I)