Officials: Millions of COVID-19 shots ordered for youngest

NEW YORK — Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been ordered for babies in anticipation of potential federal authorization subsequent week, White House officers say.

The authorities allowed pharmacies and states to begin putting orders final week, with 5 million doses initially obtainable — half of them shots made by Pfizer and the opposite half the vaccine produced by Moderna, senior administration officers mentioned.

As of this week, about 1.45 million of the two.5 million obtainable doses of Pfizer have been ordered, and about 850,000 of obtainable Moderna shots have been ordered, officers mentioned. More orders are anticipated within the coming days.

Young kids are the final group of Americans who haven’t been beneficial to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Up to about 20 million U.S. kids below 5 would turn out to be eligible for vaccination if the federal government authorizes one or each shots.

It’s not clear how in style the shots can be. A current survey suggests only one in 5 dad and mom of younger kids would get their children vaccinated straight away.

And public well being officers have been disenchanted at what number of older U.S. kids, who’ve been eligible for shots for months, have but to be vaccinated: Less than one-third of children ages 5 to 11 have gotten the 2 beneficial doses, in response to authorities figures.

“As we go down in the age groups, we see lower and lower uptake” of vaccines, mentioned Dr. Lucia Abascal of the California Department of Public Health.

Pfizer has requested FDA to authorize three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 6 month to 4 years. Each dose is one-tenth of the quantity adults obtain.

Moderna has requested FDA to authorize two shots for children ages 6 months to five years, every containing 1 / 4 of the dose given to adults.

The Food and Drug Administration authorizes the use of vaccines, whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points suggestions to medical doctors and the general public about utilizing them.

An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to fulfill Tuesday and Wednesday to assessment information from the 2 firms. Officials say they anticipate a FDA determination shortly after that meeting.

A CDC advisory committee is scheduled for subsequent Friday and Saturday, with a CDC determination anticipated quickly after.

Vaccinations ought to start in earnest as early as June 21, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha instructed reporters final week.

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