This is a good week for vaccine news! First, we heard that the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters got the greenlight. Plus, we can mix brands making it easier to get our boosters. Now we’re hearing that we are just weeks away from the vaccine for 5-11 year olds getting FDA approval for emergency use. Well, we knew that, Hecate, some of you may be saying. But get this – the Biden administration already has a plan in place to roll these vaccines out. They current White House has purchased enough doses that as soon as the FDA gives them the thumbs up, they are ready to get it out to all eligible children, so millions of parents and teachers can rest a little easier at night.
With the FDA and CDC expected to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in kids aged 5 to 11 in the next few weeks, the Biden administration has laid out their plan for getting this youngest age group inoculated.
The Biden administration said Wednesday that as soon as the vaccine is approved for use, they will make it available at more than 25,000 pediatrician offices and primary care facilities, more than 100 children’s hospitals and at pharmacies and schools.
The White House said that they have purchased enough vaccine doses to inoculate the 28 million kids aged 5 to 11 years old in the U.S. The doses, though, will be smaller, as will the needles, to better suit the younger kids.
“Kids have different needs than adults and our operational planning is geared to meet those specific needs, including by offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday.
A September poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that just 34% of parents with kids aged 5 to 11 said they intended to vaccinate their kids as soon as the shot is available for use.
In a statement, Dr. Gerald Harmon, the president of the American Medical Association said that they “encourage all parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 once vaccines are authorized and recommended for use in this population.”
I’m using a jovial tone to this post because I am genuinely giddy about this news. Think way back into the dark ages of 2020 when The Other Guy was president, and scientists were working on the vaccine. Nothing was done to prepare or implement a roll out once it arrived. As a result, the vaccine arrived and everything fell apart. And the country got sicker. Now we have an administration that took over a completely botched vaccine distribution, fixed it, and set up a plan that could have protected the US within a year. It was so efficient, that timeline was shortened to half a year. The fact that so many chose not to take advantage of that free, life-saving option is still baffling.
The vaccines make a difference. They are working to keep numbers low and to keep cases less severe. The peace of mind they provide is immeasurable. I just finished texting with my college roommate. His kids, who are under 10 years old, go to a small private school in Northern California. He was telling me about the school’s closures (multiple) due to breakout cases and his friends who’ve caught Covid from their kids who brought it home. My vaccinated kids in public school have yet to have a case reported in their school. None of their friends or parents have gotten sick and a few of them work in hospitals. I don’t worry about my kids once I send them off knowing they’re vaccinated and the mask policy is being enforced. I hope the 5-11 vaccine gets here soon for the parents of those children. I’m delighted but not surprised that this White House is completely ready once it’s approved. Hopefully, by the time the vaccine starts arriving, that 34% of parents who plan to protect their children will be a much higher number.
Photo credit: Getty Images and Rodnae and Janko Ferlic from Pexels
I could literally cry tears of joy just at the THOUGHT of my 5 year old being protected. I also have a 2 year old, so we won’t be dropping any of our pre-cautions just yet, but I’M SO READY.
Very happy for you, these are amazing news, can’t believe it took them so long, it felt like it was forever and I wasn’t even particularly paying attention to this.
I’m in the same boat Kimmy. I tear up all the time!!
My friend called to tell me. I felt so
Rude I had to get off the phone ASAP. I just put my face in a blanket and sobbed. Please
Please
Please I need my babies protected.
I think my county has already reported that they’ve received their first round of allotted doses.
I am not being factitious when I say this so, the more the merrier.
I was always raised by the saying kids should outlive their parents.
And while I am child free, I don’t expect to long this world and children need to be protected.
This is how our government, particularly pandemic preparedness and immunization action planning, is supposed to function. I suspect there is also a national information outreach to providers, community resources, and families, and delivery mechanisms in place. All of that was missing when the virus hit our shores.
This is really great news! I plan to get my 5 year old vaccinated ASAP once it’s been approved. It’s been stressful not knowing when the next email will drop from her principal letting us know there’s been another Covid case and a class/bus has been closed. However since the start of this school year there has yet to be a case. Again proof that vaccines work and when the vast majority of parents are vaccinated, kids who are unvaccinated are way more protected. 34% is not a great number though…
Yay! I will be first in line for my 5 year old. Getting access to a vaccine is a priviledge. I have family in Mexico and 12 to 17 year olds had to get judges orders so the government gave them shots because the president still believes kids have no issues with covid.
I had a really frustrating back and forth on Instagram with someone with almost a million followers announcing how terrible it is to give kids the covid vaccine. When she was confronted she pretended that she just didn’t want a mandate, but that’s not what her original post said. I just want to scream at these people who are keeping us from getting back to normal and pretending that their vast knowledge of “medicine” (stuff their yoga teacher told them) gives them the right to spread misinformation on social media.
This infuriates me. My kids are vaccinated from everything they possibly can be and I will always make sure of that.
I’m still hearing things like “well we’ve proven that masks don’t work… etc. etc…”
Every october and december since my son was born, he ends up in emergency with respiratory distress. He has astham and when flu season hits we always have a time where I can’t control it with his meds at home. We’ve been social distancing, masking, quarantining, since the very beginning and he hasn’t been seriously sick since masking started. He is proof that it works. I’m going to listen to the scientists. Instagram “influencers” can kick rocks.
I’ve already contacted my pediatrician about the covid vaccine. I want to be first in line. My son has asthma and due to masks and social distancing he hasn’t been sick since before the pandemic started. I cannot wait to have my kids protected from this awful/deadly virus. I’ve actually had nightmares about him being covid positive and in hospital. It’s truly scary for those of us who take this seriously. Every time he has a runny nose I’m worried it will turn into something worse.
Happy for parents who want their children vaccinated. My entire family is vaccinated. That being said, no vaccine mandates for children under 18. It should be the families decision. Europe bans Moderna for people under 30. And they consider antibodies from Covid illness.