White House expects Covid vaccinations for children under age 5 to begin as early as June 21

A nurse administers a pediatric dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to a girl at a L.A. Care Health Plan vaccination clinic at Los Angeles Mission College in the Sylmar neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, January 19, 2022.

A senior health official said on Thursday that the White House expects vaccinations for children under the age of 5 to start on June 21.

The Biden administration will make 10 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available to states, according to the White House's Covid response coordinators. The vaccine doses will only be shipped after the FDA approves the shots.

The FDA is expected to make its decision on Pfizer and Moderna's Covid shots for infants through preschoolers soon after the agency's committee of independent experts reviews the data. The FDA decision would allow vaccinations to begin after the Juneteenth federal holiday, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would immediately issue its recommendations.

Every parent should be able to get an appointment within weeks of the initial roll out of the vaccine program.

During the White House press briefing, Jha said that they would ship out the doses as fast as possible. We are going to make sure that there is always enough supply. We are going to do everything we can to make getting a vaccine easy for providers and parents.

The FDA has yet to approve the shots for kids under the age of 5 because they are not eligible for Covid vaccine. Children under the age of 5 were five times more likely to be hospitalized for Covid than adults during the winter surge, according to the CDC.

The vaccine was 80% effective in preventing illness from the omicron variant, according to Pfizer. The shots are for people under the age of 18.

Moderna said the vaccine was effective against infections from omicron in children under 2 years old and in children 2 through 5 years old. Moderna Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Burton said the children should have high levels of protection against severe illnesses.

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