The Biden administration said Wednesday it will be ready to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11 once the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sign off on an application from Pfizer and BioNTech to start the rollout.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said they expect sign-off in the “next couple weeks” and defended the decision to roll out a plan for 28 million children before regulators have their say — despite trumpeting similar plans for booster shots only to be reeled in by federal advisers.
The vaccines for children use a smaller dose than the ones given to adults. Federal officials said they worked with Pfizer to make sure the child vaccines are clearly labeled and include smaller needles.
Mr. Zients said the government secured enough doses for every child in the age group, should their parents bring them forward.
Tens of thousands of pharmacies will offer the vaccines and rural health centers in rural and underprivileged urban areas will be offering the shots to children.
“Should the FDA and CDC authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to get shots in arms,” Mr. Zients said.
The plan will start with a shipment of about 15 million doses nationwide in the first few days following the CDC’s signoff, followed by millions more in each of the following weeks.
Mr. Zients repeatedly defended the decision to roll out a prominent campaign before the FDA authorizes the shots.
Previously, the White House made a big splash in promoting booster shots for everyone who received a second dose at least eight months ago, only to see the FDA curtail the scope of the rollout to specific populations.
“I think we’re actually doing the right thing here as we did before which is to make sure that we are operationally ready,” Mr. Zients said. “We are going to be ready pending the FDA and CDC decision that will be based on science. But we want to make sure the operations are ready to accommodate kids.”
Younger people have tended to avoid the worst outcomes from COVID-19 but are not guaranteed to have an easy time with the disease. Doctors reported an uptick in child cases as the delta variant took hold and society opened up.
“Fully vaccinated individuals are 10 times less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and have a high degree of protection, including against the delta variant,” a White House fact sheet said. “The consequences of a pediatric COVID-19 case can be serious and potentially last months.”
Only 34% of parents said they would get their children ages 5 to 11 vaccinated “right away” once the shots are available, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released at the end of September.
That’s up from 26% in July, and the bulk of September interviews were conducted before Pfizer announced positive results from its trial on 5- to 11-year-olds.
Another 32% said they would “wait and see” whether to bring forward a child in this age group. About a quarter of parents, 24%, said they would “definitely not” get their kids in this group vaccinated, and 7% said they would do it only if required.
Eligibility for the shots has been a key factor in the percentage of Americans who are vaccinated for the disease, as the nation tries to reach an elusive threshold of immunity that will make the virus a manageable problem.
Only 57% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated but the rate rises to two-thirds of Americans when looking at those who are eligible, meaning age 12 or older.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said recent papers show children transmit the virus as readily as adults in the “delta era” so vaccinating them could play a role in reaching sufficient immunity levels to control the virus within households and communities.
“If we can get the overwhelming majority of the 28 million children vaccinated, I think that would play a major role in diminishing the spread of infection in the community,” Dr. Fauci said. “We want to do as best as we can to get those children 5 to 11 vaccinated.”
Mr. Zients said many families are “eagerly awaiting” the chance to get their children protected but the administration realizes some parents remain leery, so they will rely on trusted voices in communities to promote the vaccines.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said faith leaders will play a key role and forms for parents will be in multiple languages. They also will leverage Head Start programs to get the word out.
Dr. Fauci said routine childhood vaccinations for other diseases prevented an estimated 732,000 deaths in children born between 1994 and 2013.
He also said vaccines remain available to the 66 million Americans who are eligible for the shots and haven’t come forward.
“It is not too late, so please, please get vaccinated,” Dr. Fauci said.
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