COVID-19 vaccinations begin for children under five

COVID-19 vaccinations for children younger than five are beginning across the United States of America, marking a milestone in the nation’s fight against the disease.

The US Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorisations for Moderna’s vaccine to include children six months through 17 years and Pfizer/BioNTech’s for children six months through four years.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, on Saturday, signed off on COVID-19 vaccinations for children under five, clearing the way for vaccinations to be administered in that age group.

According to the CNN, about 17 million children under the age of five are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, in an interview with CNN, said, “This is a big day. We’ve been waiting a long time for children to have access to the vaccine. We now have every age group, six months and above, in the country which is now eligible to get protection from the COVID-19 vaccine. And I’ll tell you as a dad of a four-year-old, this is a big deal for my family as well,”

As reported by the CNN, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has delivered approximately 2.7 million doses of vaccine for children under five in the country as of the end of Tuesday.

The spokesperson of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Tim Granholm, said, “Another one million doses have been shipped and will soon be received by administration sites.

“HHS has received orders for approximately 4.2 million doses to date. We will continue to deliver vaccines expeditiously as we fulfill orders and take new ones. We made 10 million doses of vaccine available for ordering initially, with millions more available soon, so supply should not be a barrier to someone getting their young child vaccinated.”