US to start Covid-19 vaccination for kids as young as 6 months this week
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Jun, 2022 10:47 AM
Los Angeles, June 21 (IANS) The US is expected to start Covid-19 vaccination this week for children as young as six months old.
The plan came after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the shots for an additional 19 million children across the US, Xinhua news agency reported.
The CDC's advisory panel on Saturday unanimously recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 6 months through four years, as well as the Moderna vaccine for children aged 6 months through five years.
"We know millions of parents and caregivers are eager to get their young children vaccinated, and with today's decision, they can," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement.
The CDC's move came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration amended emergency use authorisations for the two vaccines to include the youngest age group.
This was the last age group in the US without access to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Since the pandemic began, more than 13.5 million US children have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
Although Covid-19 is normally less severe in children than adults, the virus can be life threatening for some children. Covid-19 is the fifth leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 4 years from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2022, according to CDC data released on Friday.
The White House said vaccinations for children aged below 5 years would begin on Tuesday after the Juneteenth federal holiday.
The Joe Biden administration has procured a significant supply of vaccines for this age group, with 10 million doses available initially and millions more available in the coming weeks, according to a plan released by the White House.
Parents will be able to get their youngest children vaccinated at their pediatricians' offices, as well as at pop-up clinics at children's museums, libraries and child-care sites, according to the plan.
Appointment availability might be limited initially but every parent who wants to get their child vaccinated should be able to do so in the next few weeks, said Ashish Jha, who oversees the Biden administration's Covid-19 response.
Shipments of precious frozen vials of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech began arriving at hospitals around the country Monday.
The go-ahead for the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech comes as the virus surges again in the United States and Europe, putting pressure on hospitals and morgues in some places and forcing new rounds of restrictions that have devastated economies.
Announcing the results on Monday, Moderna said it has submitted emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to apply for a conditional marketing authorisation with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and to progress with the rolling reviews, which have already been initiated with international regulatory agencies.
Protest by thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana took place in New Delhi over the weekend entering its fifth day Monday as the farmers continue to showcase their displeasure against the Centre's new farm laws.
Monday's delivery of an 18-and-a-half foot tall Fraser fir by horse-drawn carriage signalled the kickoff of the usual array of White House holiday events that will include the annual turkey pardon and Christmas and Hanukkah events.
The results are based on an interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca.
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