Schools and Pediatricians Will Be Key to Biden ’s Childhood Vaccine Rollout

The White House outlined its COVID-19 plan to vaccinate younger children which would focus on smaller doses administered with smaller needles if the shots are authorized by regulators. “We will be ready to get shots in arms,” President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients, said Wednesday during a White House briefing on the plan, which includes supporting vaccination by primary care doctors and in pharmacies and schools. The U.S. has ordered enough supply to vaccinate all kids 5 to 11, the White House said in a statement Wednesday. The vaccination campaign for kids would differ from the one targeting adults and children 12 and older in that it will enlist pediatricians to work with parents, rather than utilizing mass inoculation sites. The vials and needles used to administer doses also will be smaller, the White House said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The shots will be available at more than 25,000 doctors’ offices and primary care sites, as well as children’s hospitals and pharmacies. “The administration will work with states and local partners to make vaccination sites available at schools and other trusted community-based sites across the country,” according to the White House statement. The doses, which are one-third the strength of the regular dose given to those 12 and up, will be shipped in smaller configurations more easily stored at a typical pediatrician’s office, the White House sai...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news