On Wednesday, the White House announced its desire to get 28-million children vaccinated against COVID between the ages of 5 and 11 once the Food and Drug Administration gives final approval for use within that age group. The FDA is spending the next two weeks considering data submitted by Pfizer on the safety and efficacy of the COVID jab in young children, and White House officials have said they do expect pediatric doses to be shipped out by early November.
Locally, Austin Public Health has been gearing up for a rollout of vaccines for young children for weeks, but there are still some remaining preparations that need to be made, according to APH Director Adrienne Sturrup.
“We were mostly a Moderna community, but we know that once these come online, because they’re the only option for kiddos, we want to make sure that we have enough,” Sturrup said. “We’re looking at making sure that we have an adequate supply in anticipation of the increased demand for Pfizer.”
The White House COVID-19 Task Force said Wednesday there should be enough doses nationwide to vaccinate every American child within that age group.
If and when the FDA approves the vaccine for children that young, almost 115,000 more people will become eligible for the shot within the Austin area.
