The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the use of Pfizer’s covid vaccine for children aged five to 11 on Tuesday.
Calling it a “monumental day” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said “It is our ongoing responsibility to make sure as many people as possible are vaccinated and protected from Covid-19“
RT reports: Tuesday’s decision means that some 28 million children in this age bracket in the US will be eligible to receive the jabs. Two doses, one-third as strong as the shot administered to those 12 and older, would be given three weeks apart.
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The government has already purchased enough vaccines for everyone, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients has revealed. Pfizer began the process last Friday, after the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization for using the vaccine.
The first doses may be available by the end of this week, but the federal distribution program “will be fully operational” by November 8, Zients said.
CDC models indicate that vaccinating the children would prevent 600,000 coronavirus cases by March 2022, and “would dampen, but not eliminate,” the possibility of a new variant emerging, according to Dr. Sara Oliver.
The FDA addressed concerns over vaccine-related heart inflammations in teenagers by saying that its modeling “predicts that overall, the benefits of the vaccine would outweigh its risks in children five through 11.”
Niamh Harris