WASHINGTON, June 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has begun distributing COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months around the country, and availability of the shots will improve in the coming days, according to White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr Ashish Jha.
US regulators authorised Moderna’s two-dose vaccine for children aged six months to five years and the Pfizer-BioNTech three-shot regimen for children aged six months to four years late last week.
Just one-in-five parents with children under age five said they intended to vaccinate them “right away” after they become eligible, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation published in May showed. Only about 29 per cent of children aged five to 11 have been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine since it was authorised in October, according to US data.
Chinmay Hegde, father of a 14-month old daughter, said outside Children’s National Hospital in Washington that the US authorisation was a huge relief. His daughter was the first to be vaccinated at the hospital on Tuesday.
Children who begin their vaccinations with the Pfizer shot this week could receive their third dose the week of Sept 12 or later. Those who receive a first Moderna shot this week could complete their inoculation as soon as July 19.
Moderna’s vaccine uses a larger dose and has a higher likelihood of inducing fever than Pfizer’s.
Jha said on Twitter on Monday that the rollout for younger children differed from those for other age groups in that there were no mass vaccination sites, but there would be more inoculations done in doctors’ offices.
“Parents are clear they want to vaccinate their littlest ones in familiar settings – doctors offices, pharmacies, health clinics, and children’s hospitals,” he tweeted.
The vaccines began shipping on Friday and Saturday, Jha said, adding that more doctors’ offices and hospitals would begin receiving them on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. — NNN-AGENCIES
