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4:04
US begins vaccination against Covid-19 in children around ages 5 to 11
Approximately 28 million children summoned to administer two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
In an attempt to advance the fight against Covid-19, this Wednesday, November 3, the United States government launched a campaign to vaccinate millions of children between 5 and 11 years old in elementary schools.
The goal of the US authorities is to immunize the 28 million children in that age range.
The government has already promised the amount of vaccines for this goal, while pediatric clinics, schools, clinics and pharmacies prepare to carry out the vaccination approved Tuesday night.
The little ones will receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was recommended by the advisers of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the agency's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The vaccination initiative is a step forward to return to normality in the United States, especially in school matters, since the authorities estimate that this will allow classes to not be interrupted.
“There are children in second grade who have never experienced a normal school year. Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change that”, Walensky said.
Before the approval by the health authorities, thousands of pediatricians had already requested doses of Pfizer, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had authorized the use of the vaccine in cases of emergency.
According to the AP news agency, Pfizer has announced that it expects to make about 19 thousand shipments to bring 11 million doses and supply the demand, while it has indicated that it will have millions of vaccines available weekly to attend to children.
Regarding the organization and application of vaccines to children, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady has indicated that she hopes there will be no chaos, as happened when the vaccination of adults began. He also indicated that they hope to have enough doses to inoculate half of the 210,000 school-age children in Chicago.
One third of the dose
Children will receive a third of the dose that has been given to adolescents and adults, and it will be done with a smaller needle. They will also be given two doses in a three-week period; And according to the authorities, full immunity will be achieved in two more weeks, which indicates that at Christmas they will be protected.
Georgia state pediatrician Jennifer Shu told the AP that this "is a big milestone for children between the ages of 5 and 11," and explains that they represent 40% of those under 18 years of age.
Despite the good news this may represent, at least two-thirds of parents interviewed by the American Kaiser Family Foundation have said that they will wait to vaccinate their children or that they simply will not take them to be vaccinated.
Given these numbers, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, asserted that the fear of parents is understandable, especially when much has been said about the vaccine, and its safety, however, she clarified that experts have taken enough time to "get it right", adding that clinical tests on children "showed no serious incidents associated with the vaccine".
Walensky said he understood parents' fears, but said, "We have taken the time to get it right". He said clinical trials in children showed no "serious incidents" associated with the vaccine.
False that 13 children died from vaccination
In recent days a video has circulated on social networks in which it is said that 13 children from a school in Africa died after being administered the Pfizer vaccine, however, this is false, since the minors died from it from a stampede at a Kenyan school in February 2020.
Kenyan media clarified the matter, showing the images of February 3, when the stampede occurred when the bell rang after the school day.
