The White House said the COVID-19 vaccination program for children ages 5 to 11 will be fully operational on November 8.
Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said during a press briefing Monday, “Parents will be able to schedule appointments at convenient sites they know and trust to get their kids vaccinated.”
He added, “The number of sites will continue to increase throughout the month as more vaccine sites open their doors and administer vaccines. Bottom line, we have been planning and preparing for this moment. We are ready to execute pending the CDC’s decision.”
Watch part of the briefing below:
The U.S. vaccination program for children ages 5-11 will be "fully up and running” starting the week of November 8, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients says. https://t.co/LhUO4xZ50h pic.twitter.com/c69YZuYTeC
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) November 1, 2021
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday.
Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement, “As a mother and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been waiting for today’s authorization. Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will bring us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy.”
The CDC’s panel of advisers are expected to meet on November 2 and 3 to discuss vaccinations for young children.
A survey published by the Kaiser Family Foundation found among parents of children between the ages of 5 and 11, 27% will have their children get the vaccine as soon as it is available, as IJR reported.
Seventy-six percent of those surveyed said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the long-term side effects of the vaccine while 71% are concerned about serious side effects.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “Even though the chances of [a child] getting sick and seriously ill are small — why do you want to take a chance of that with your child, when you can essentially protect the child by an intervention that is proven to be both highly effective and very safe?”
