Roll up your sleeves: Kids' turn arrives for COVID-19 shots

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The U.S. enters a caller signifier Wednesday successful its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with shots present disposable to millions of elementary-age children successful what wellness officials hailed arsenic a large breakthrough aft much than 18 months of illness, hospitalizations, deaths and disrupted education.

With the national authorities promising capable vaccine to support the nation’s 28 cardinal kids ages 5-11, pediatricians’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals, schools and wellness clinics were poised to statesman the shots aft the last OK precocious Tuesday.

“This is not going to beryllium ‘The Hunger Games,’” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s nationalist wellness commissioner, referring to the chaotic aboriginal nationalist rollout of big vaccines astir a twelvemonth ago. Chicago expected to person astir capable vaccine successful conscionable the archetypal week for astir fractional of its 210,000 school-aged children, and galore much doses aboriginal on.

“Our extremity is to beryllium ready, person a calm rollout,’’ Arwady said.

Kid-sized doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine cleared 2 last hurdles Tuesday — a proposal from CDC advisers followed by a greenish airy from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hartford Hospital successful Connecticut vaccinated 7 youngsters Tuesday night, minutes aft CDC’s manager gave the OK, and 3 much aboriginal Wednesday. Mostly staffers’ children, the kids were waiting connected standby for the CDC announcement, said Eric Arlia, elder pharmacy manager for Hartford HealthCare successful Connecticut.

One miss squeezed her eyes unopen and a small lad hardly flinched arsenic they got their shots and different waiting kids applauded, section media video showed.

“It feels similar different important measurement connected the travel to being capable to vaccinate arsenic galore radical arsenic we tin and enactment the pandemic to an end,’’ Arlia said.

Walgreens planned to commencement kids’ vaccinations astatine their pharmacies connected Saturday and said parents could motion up starting Wednesday online oregon by calling 1-800-Walgreens. CVS was besides accepting appointments online and by telephone for vaccinations astatine prime pharmacies starting Sunday.

The shots for schoolchildren mean sleepovers, playdates and household get-togethers enactment disconnected for much than a twelvemonth volition beryllium backmost connected the docket for galore kids, on with a accidental for less schoolhouse interruptions.

“There are children successful the 2nd people who person ne'er experienced a mean schoolhouse year,” Walensky said. “Pediatric vaccination has the powerfulness to assistance america alteration each of that.”

Thousands of pediatricians pre-ordered doses, and Pfizer began shipments soon aft the Food and Drug Administration’s determination Friday to authorize exigency use. Pfizer said it expects to marque 19,000 shipments totaling astir 11 cardinal doses successful the adjacent respective days, and that millions much volition beryllium disposable to bid connected a play basis.

The vaccine — one-third the dose fixed to older children and adults and administered with kid-sized needles — requires 2 doses 3 weeks apart, positive 2 much weeks for afloat extortion to footwear in. That means children who get vaccinated earlier Thanksgiving volition beryllium covered by Christmas.

“This is simply a large milestone for 5- to 11-year-olds due to the fact that they marque up astir 40% of children nether 18,” said Dr. Jennifer Shu, a Decatur, Georgia, pediatrician, who received her archetypal shipment Tuesday morning.

“The timing earlier wintertime holidays is precise fortunate,” she added. "This property radical volition beryllium capable to walk holidays with friends and household much safely than they person been capable to since the commencement of the pandemic."

Kathy Zordan, 44, an security auditor successful Morton Grove, Illinois, said she was “super excited” for her kindergartner, 5-year-old Liam.

"I told him, ‘Mommy got 2 shots, Daddy got 2 shots. This is wherefore radical are wearing masks. Hopefully astatine immoderate constituent we don’t person to support wearing the mask. You’re going to get the shots.’”

“He goes to school, he’s among hundreds of different kids each azygous time and I privation him to person this protection," Zordan added.

Many locations planned wide vaccination events successful coming days. And portion galore pediatricians’ offices were expecting beardown request astatine slightest initially, astir two-thirds of parents precocious polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would either hold oregon not question retired the vaccines for their kids.

Hannah Hause, a Colorado parent of 4 children ages 2, 5, 7 and 8, is among those not successful immoderate rush. She’s vaccinated but wants much clip to spot however the kid vaccines play retired and are studied successful the larger puerility population.

“It’s not studied long-term. It conscionable makes maine tense due to the fact that that’s my full world,” she said of her children.

“As agelong arsenic I tin wait, I volition wait,” she said.

Walensky said she understood parents' fears but said “we've taken the clip to get this right.” She said objective trials successful children showed "no terrible events” associated with the vaccine.

“The benefits of this vaccine truthful overmuch outweigh the risks of COVID itself,” Walensky told “CBS Mornings” connected Wednesday.

Government authorities said pediatricians and household doctors, whom parents beryllium connected to springiness regular puerility vaccinations, could assistance physique trust.

Dr. Ada Stewart, a Black household doc successful Columbia, South Carolina, works astatine a session for underserved patients that has been giving COVID-19 shots to grandparents, parents and teens and said she’s acceptable to adhd younger children to the mix. She’s seen the toll the microorganism has taken connected them — not conscionable successful household unwellness and decease but with schoolhouse disruptions, slipping grades and intelligence strain.

School closures passim the pandemic person disproportionately burdened children of color, widening world gaps and worsening intelligence health, according to information presented Tuesday to CDC advisers. That information showed much than 2,000 COVID-related schoolhouse closures successful conscionable the archetypal 2 months of the existent schoolhouse year. Advocates accidental getting school-aged kids vaccinated volition trim those disruptions.

But Stewart thinks request for kids’ shots volition beryllium mixed.

“Because galore of my patients are Black, Indigenous and radical of color, I’ve seen the afloat spectrum,’’ from parents anxious to get their children vaccinated to those who are much hesitant “because of a past of mistrust successful the aesculapian community,’’ said Stewart, past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Her connection to some is the same: “Vaccines work, they’re safe, they’re effectual and they prevention lives,’’ she said. “The much individuals that we tin get vaccinated including our children, the sooner we volition beryllium capable to get retired of this pandemic.’’

A Pfizer survey of 2,268 children recovered the vaccine was astir 91% effectual astatine preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections. The FDA examined 3,100 vaccinated kids successful concluding the shots are safe.

Some skeptics person questioned the request for kids to get vaccinated since they are little apt than adults to make terrible COVID-19. But with the delta variant, they get infected and transmit “just arsenic readily arsenic adults do,’’ Dr. Anthony Fauci said astatine a caller White House briefing.

Since the pandemic began, astatine slightest 94 children aged 5 to 11 person died from COVID-19, much than 8,300 person been hospitalized and implicit 5,000 person developed a superior inflammatory information linked to the coronavirus. Black and Latino youngsters and those with chronic conditions are among the hardest hit.

But portion immoderate wellness authorities accidental minorities should beryllium over-represented successful COVID-19 vaccine studies due to the fact that they are disproportionately affected by the virus, astir 80% of kids successful Pfizer’s survey were white. Black youngsters totaled 6%, Latinos 21%, Asians 6% and little than 1% were American Indian oregon Alaska oregon Hawaii natives.

Infected kids person contributed to the U.S. toll — astir 46 cardinal infections and much than 740,000 deaths.

Lindsay Whelan, a nurse-administrator who helped program the rollout of kids’ shots astatine Children’s Physicians clinics successful the Omaha, Nebraska, area, said being a portion of the nation’s archetypal COVID-19 vaccination programme “makes america proud.’’

With this caller circular of shots, lone 1 of her six boys volition stay unvaccinated, her 4-year-old. Pfizer and Moderna are studying shots successful kids that property and younger and Pfizer has said its results whitethorn travel earlier year’s end.

The shots are important “for protecting them all, getting everybody backmost to normal, and providing assemblage protection,’’ Whelan said.

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Patty Nieberg contributed from Denver.

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Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner astatine @LindseyTanner.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely liable for each content.

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