Younger kids started receiving COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday in what was a second of pleasure not just for their mother and father however the youngsters themselves.
The Western States Scientific Security Assessment Workgroup, a gaggle of immunization and public well being scientists from California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is protected and efficient for kids aged 5 to 11 on Wednesday.
The workgroup’s determination reinforces the FDA’s authorization of the vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds, and formally allowed California to begin vaccinating younger kids.
“This expanded eligibility for lifesaving vaccines strikes us nearer to ending the pandemic, which has taken a heavy toll on the well-being of our youngsters,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated in a press release.
At a day information convention, President Joe Biden stated 20,000 websites nationwide could be out there by subsequent week to manage the kids’s vaccine, and he identified that minors make up one-fourth of the COVID-19 instances within the nation.
The president not solely urged mother and father of school-age kids to have them vaccinated, but additionally pushed for these 65 and older who’re eligible to get booster pictures.
“Vaccines for kids ages 5 to 11 and boosters (to) present further safety for seniors and others are two main steps ahead that are going to speed up our path out of this pandemic,” Biden stated.
In Michigan, some kids had been vaccinated on the heels of a call Tuesday evening by federal regulators to permit youngsters ages 5-11 to get the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. The choice was applauded by consultants within the state.
“The choice to authorize this Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds is another excuse for hope,” stated Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical government, including: “the choice will assist transfer us ahead towards safer school rooms, household gatherings, participation in sports activities celebrations and every kind of different milestones.”
Additionally within the information:
►Inexperienced Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the NFL’s reigning MVP, tested positive for the coronavirus and can miss Sunday’s marquee sport in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. Rodgers is not vaccinated, and lied to the media about it.
►The Nationwide Institutes of Well being will sponsor a four-year research to evaluate the long-term effects of COVID-19 on pregnant ladies and their kids.
►The World Well being Group granted emergency use authorization to an Indian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, that had been used for months within the nation. It’s the eighth vaccine to which the WHO has given use authorization.
📈 In the present day’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded 46.2 million confirmed COVID-19 instances and greater than 750,400 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. World totals: Greater than 248 million instances and 5 million deaths. Greater than 192.9 million Individuals — 58.1% of the inhabitants — are totally vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: A research of deer in Iowa which have contracted the coronavirus suggests they might grow to be “a major reservoir host” that permits the virus to mutate and re-enter people.
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Walgreens, CVS will have youngsters’ vaccine broadly out there by weekend
The nation’s largest pharmacies, Walgreens and CVS, are already accepting online appointments for kids 5 to 11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine following the CDC’s sign-off Tuesday evening of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the age group.
Walgreens will start administering the pediatric doses at hundreds of shops nationwide beginning Saturday. The primary vaccine shipments are scheduled to reach at some Walgreens areas this week, the corporate stated Wednesday.
CVS will start administering the vaccine this weekend, spokesperson Joe Goode advised USA TODAY. The vaccine can even be out there on the places of work of pediatricians and first care docs, kids’s hospitals and clinics at faculties.
Vaccines.gov – the one-stop store federal authorities web site – is predicted to quickly record the closest out there vaccine appointments for kids.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is simply as essential to guard kids as different routine immunizations are, and the expanded eligibility will assist kids keep in class safely and forestall extreme sickness resulting from COVID-19,” Kevin Ban, Walgreens’ chief medical officer, stated in a press release.
The Biden administration’s distribution program shall be “operating at full energy” the week of Nov. 8, presidential adviser Jeff Zients stated Monday, because it has already ordered sufficient vaccine to cowl all 28 million American kids within the age group.
White Home works to counter misinformation about youngsters vaccines
As they enthusiastically welcomed the coronavirus vaccine for kids ages 5-11, members of the White Home COVID-19 response crew made some extent Wednesday to inform mother and father in regards to the significance of the pictures, in addition to their security and efficacy.
Most notably, the consultants sought to warn mother and father about what Surgeon Normal Vivek Murthy referred to as “the wave of misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines that’s coming their manner.’’
Murthy stated the federal government is attempting to counter these bogus claims with outreach efforts involving trusted sources comparable to docs, lecturers and religion leaders, in addition to organizations well-known to oldsters, together with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“Many mother and father are already seeing inaccurate claims on social media, textual content threads and of their in-boxes,’’ Murthy stated. “Misinformation robs them of (the flexibility to make knowledgeable selections). That’s why I’m asking mother and father to please search solutions from credible sources, like their physician, their native hospital, their native well being division or the CDC.’’
Fellow crew members Drs. Rochelle Walensky and Anthony Fauci underscored that, whereas older adults are extra weak to COVID-19, the virus has contaminated practically 2 million kids ages 5-11, sending 8,300 of them to a hospital. One-third of these youngsters required therapy in an ICU.
Now there’s a software to forestall a lot of these diseases.
“Pediatric vaccination has the ability to assist us obtain wholesome, protected and inclusive environments for our youngsters,’’ Walensky stated.
— Jorge L. Ortiz
Contributing: The Related Press
