Kids under 5 years old may get their first shots of the COVID-19 vaccines in the week of June 20 after The White House confirmed that 10 million doses had been ordered and ready for distribution.
While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to authorize the vaccination for the youngest eligible age, The White House came out with a news release confirming the vaccine shipments.
These small doses for kids will be making their way to community health centers and pharmacies across the country in preparation for the rollout. The White House also said that 85 percent of the children would have access to these vaccines within five miles of their homes as various facilities will be conducting the vaccination.
"We are on the cusp of having safe, highly effective vaccines for kids under 5," The White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha said during the press briefing. "We have waited a long time for this moment."
What COVID-19 Vaccines Will Be Given to the Under 5s?
Both Pfizer and Moderna are awaiting authorization from the FDA. Pfizer recommends giving children below 5 years old and above 6 months old three doses of their COVID-19 vaccines. Each dose is just a tenth of the amount injected in adults.
On the other hand, Moderna is asking to administer two shots of their COVID-19 vaccines. Their dose is equivalent to a quarter of what was given to the adults.
In February, the FDA decided to delay the review of the vaccines for the youngest kids, pending more verifiable data on their safety and efficacy, until the summer. More than 20 million children in the U.S. belong to this age group.
Many parents have been waiting for the children's vaccine since late 2021, but Dr. Ofer Levy, who is part of the vaccine advisory panel for the FDA, said that they needed to take time to ensure that this will be a safe and effective process for small kids. Thus, the vaccine makers had to conduct more tests and studies to present to the FDA, per the New York Times.
However, a recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that only 18 percent of parents would have their kids under 5 years old vaccinated as soon as the first shots are approved. About 38 percent said they would like to "wait and see" after the rollout, while 27 percent said they would not have their young kids get the shot.
Slowing Vaccine Uptake in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Marks of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research told CNN that despite the supplies and infrastructure of the rollout in the U.S., vaccine uptake has become slower, causing a serious problem as people choose not to get the shot. Among kids above 12 years old, only 48.7 percent are fully vaccinated with at least one booster shot, and this is considerably lower than in other countries.
The news comes as two Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5., continue to bring more infections in the U.S. and will likely become the dominant variants by the end of summer or the start of the fall season. According to Jha, though a substantial number of Americans have some form of immunity, either through vaccination or prior infection, these subvariants are able to survive or mutate because they can evade immunity. Thus, the officials recommend getting booster shots.
