CDC Approves COVID Vaccines for Younger Kids; Rollout Underway
As had been expected, on Sat. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on approvals for Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID vaccines for younger children. The final approval now makes ~20M children eligible for COVID vaccination across the US, with a major distribution rollout underway....
Facts
- As had been expected, on Sat. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on approvals for Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID vaccines for younger children. The final approval now makes ~20M children eligible for COVID vaccination across the US, with a major distribution rollout underway.1
- On Fri, the FDA approved emergency authorization for Moderna's vaccine covering kids 6 months-17 years, and Pfizer/BioNTech's latest approval for kids 6 months-4 years.2
- Last week, WH officials announced plans to make millions of COVID vaccine doses available in a rollout for kids under 5 in anticipation of the FDA and CDC's approval.3
- 10M doses were available for pre-order for 'states, Tribes, territories, community health centers, federal pharmacy partners' per an official administration document. ~85% of kids in this age group live within five miles of a potential vaccination site, with more locations being planned.4
- Only ~30% of kids 5-11 have had the initial two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech course since vaccination opened to that age group in November.5
- As of Jun. 20, 442 children below 5 and 815 children 5-17 years old have died from COVID in the US.6
Sources: 1Forbes, 2CNN (a), 3Time, 4CNN (b), 5PBS NewsHour and 6DATA.
Narratives
- Left narrative, as provided by NPR Online News. It's been scary and frustrating for many parents who've been waiting for a COVID vaccine for their young kids. But the FDA needs to do due diligence on approvals. Hang in there.
- Right narrative, as provided by Daily Mail. Vaccinating children this young is ludicrous. COVID is much less severe in this age group, for which the risks associated with the vaccine far outweigh any potential benefits.
- Progressive narrative, as provided by Washington Post. This is unethical. We should aim to reduce COVID deaths and hospitalizations globally, not just in wealthy countries. Until there are enough to go around, precious vaccines shouldn't be wasted on low-risk, healthy children, who may not even be important transmitters.
