After months of false hope, the CDC has finally approved covid vaccinations for children aged six months and older. Children aged five and older have been able to be vaccinated since the beginning of November. Parents of younger children have gone through so much as restrictions lift and they’ve taken on more risk. Vaccinations from both Pfizer and Moderna should be available for young children sometime this week depending on location.
On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on Covid vaccines for the youngest Americans. Her endorsement means shots can begin immediately, finally ending the two-and-a-half year wait on the part of parents of children under 5.
Walenksy accepted the recommendation within hours after the CDC advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for children as young as 6 months. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Saturday endorsed Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines for the youngest children, the last step before CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky could issue her final sign-off.
The unanimous recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices followed the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the shots on Friday.
President Biden responded to the announcement Saturday hailing it as a “monumental step forward.”
“For parents all over the country, this is a day of relief and celebration,” Biden said. “As the first country to protect our youngest children with COVID-19 vaccines, my Administration has been planning and preparing for this moment for months, effectively securing doses and offering safe and highly effective mRNA vaccines for all children as young as six months old.”
NBC goes on to report that, although covid is typically not as serious in children, young children can get life-threatening symptoms and hundreds have died. Studies have shown that a past covid infection increases the likelihood of diabetes in children as well. I searched to figure out when young children can start to get vaccinated and found press releases for Minnesota, New York City and Washington, D.C., with mass vaccination sites and appointments as soon as tomorrow. I’m happy for parents of younger children as this must be a relief. I can’t imagine how much stress these past few years have been. I hope that covid vaccinations become required for school admission. That seems like a no brainer, but you know that it’s going to become a “political” issue, which explains how over a million people have died and only the most conscientious Americans are still wearing masks in public.
photos credit Avalon.red and via Unsplash and Pexels
I’m not thrilled about the data on efficacy among those just under 5. Our kid is turning 5 in a couple months and I’m wondering whether to wait until they can get the Pfizer one for older kids. Checking with our pediatrician but I’d love to see this addressed by experts.
@Lexilla I’m not a doctor, but I think in your position I’d wait (pending proper medical advice). I’m disappointed in the efficacy data and I wish they had done more trials with higher dosage. We’ll still be getting this vaccine for my youngest, he’s not close to 5, but it’s less peace of mind than I hoped for.
Although Covid finally got us last month – what do you know, a few weeks after my son’s school in Oakland CA ended masking more than half his kindergarten had it. And even though they share a bed, my youngest (3) was the only one who didn’t seem to catch it!
What a relief for many parents! I have continued to mask up thinking of those who can’t, for whatever reason, be vaccinated and our most vulnerable. It’s shocking to get on planes and no one is wearing a mask. In fact there’s a video of the announcement that they are no longer mandated and people celebrating taking them off mid flight. Sigh…it’s the same air circulating. It’s a plane.
@sideeye, thank you!
That video made me angry. Could they not have waited to make the announcement after the plane landed? People who were on that plane were under the impression that masks were mandatory. The thought of people taking off their masks mid-flight and cheering makes me shutter. It’s such a selfish thing to do.
I’m here for the cute baby photos. My children have moved into young adulthood over the pandemic years, and I’m still very concerned about their health. My heart goes out to those parenting very small kids over these last few years. Glad some more protection is finally available for them.
Thank you, EOWYN.
EOWYN—thank you ❤️
Well I, for one am relieved, even though all three of my kids just got covid for the first time, we will be traveling to Italy and I’d like to not get it again from a plane ride.
Only country in the world to give the go ahead to inoculate infants with these vaccines.
What’s your point? That children under 5 should not be vaccinated? Or that America is leading the world in ensuring all of its citizens who want to be vaccinated can be?
It gives me some peace of mind that soon my son will be able to have some measure of protection. He was born in summer of 2020 so we’ve limited where we go and who he comes into contact with for this entire time.
But what I really wanted to talk about: how cute is that picture of the baby in the yellow hat. I wish I had a cute picture like that of my son, but he would totally rip off that hat and probably try to eat the fruit while climbing out of the basket.