White House prepares for first coronavirus vaccines for children under 5
The White House is prepared to start shipping millions of vaccines for the youngest children as early as next weekend, should U.S. regulators give the green
WASHINGTON — The White House is prepared to start shipping millions of vaccines for the youngest children as early as next weekend, should U.S. regulators give the green light.
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scheduled to meet next week to review data on Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine for kids ages 6 months to 5 years.
Should those groups recommend vaccinations for that age range, the White House expects the first shots to be administered to young children as soon as June 21, White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha said Thursday. Federal officials plan to send out 10 million doses initially, with millions of additional doses planned to be made available in the coming weeks.
Doctor hopes more parents will vaccinate children after FDA authorizes Pfizer boosterMay 22, 202203:44“We have waited a long time for this moment," Jha said. "More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic and after nearly 18 months since the first set of vaccines became available for adults, we are on the cusp of having safe, highly effective vaccines for kids under 5."
The vaccination program for the young children won’t be affected by recent Covid funding shortfalls, but officials said they are continuing to struggle to come up with enough funding to be able to buy new versions of vaccines that they anticipate needing for the fall.
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