White House: US to begin large-scale vaccination of kids next week

Large-scale vaccination of children aged 5 through 11 will begin in the US next week, but the first vaccinations in this age group may begin in the coming days, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at a press briefing, Report informs referring to the White House website.

“On Friday [October 29], following a rigorous and independent scientific review, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 through 11. This is an important step forward in our nation’s fight against the virus. As Dr. Walensky will discuss, this week CDC will make its clinical recommendations on vaccinations for this age group,” Zients noted.

“As we await the CDC decision, we are not waiting on the operations and logistics. In fact, we’ve been preparing for weeks. Thanks to the President’s actions, we’ve secured enough vaccine for all 28 million kids ages 5 through 11,” he added.

“While vaccinations may start later this week, the program will still be ramping up to its full strength, with millions more doses packed, shipped, and delivered, and thousands of additional sites coming online each day. So, starting the week of November 8th, the kids’ vaccination program will be fully up and running. And starting the week of November 8th, our vaccination program for kids ages 5 through 11 will be running at full strength,” Zients said.