Even as it waits for FDA approval, the Biden administration said on Wednesday that it plans to 'quickly' vaccinate 28 million children aged 5-11
According to the Associated Press, after FDA approves the Pfizer shot for children, it will be accessible through doctors' offices, local pharmacies, and perhaps even schools. The White House anticipates this vaccine to be ready in only a couple of weeks.
According to the report, Federal officials will meet in the next two weeks to evaluate the efficacy and safety of administering low-dose jabs to the estimated 28 million children of that age bracket.
A CDC advisory committee is set to meet Nov. 2-3 and is expected to approve the millions of doses that will begin to be distributed to providers throughout the country within hours of formal approval, as well as the smaller needles needed for injecting small children.
Vaccines will be available for widespread distribution within a few days after that.
"We're completing the operational planning to ensure vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 are available, easy and convenient," said Jeff Zients, the White House's COVID-19 coordinator. "We're going to be ready, pending the FDA and CDC decision."
According to the announcement, the White House has obtained sufficient vaccine to provide over 25,000 doses of the drug to pediatricians and primary care doctors who have already agreed to administer the shot.
It goes on to say that the government currently has enough Pfizer shots to jab roughly 28 million children, indicating that this will not be a slow roll-out.
Meanwhile, as Zero Hedge observes, the White House is simultaneously launching a campaign to persuade parents and children that the experimental shot is safe and effective.
"COVID has also disrupted our kids lives. It's made school harder, it's disrupted their ability to see friends and family, it's made youth sports more challenging," Dr. Vivek Murthy, surgeon general, told NBC on Wednesday. "Getting our kids vaccinated, we have the prospect of protecting them, but also getting all of those activities back that are so important to our children."
As for school requirements, Murthy said that these are up to the municipalities and states to decide.
He claims that the Biden administration intends to leave the issue of requirements to school, municipal, and state authorities to resolve on their own.
"You've seen already some localities and states talk about vaccine requirements for kids. And I think it's a reasonable thing to consider to get those vaccination rates high. And it's also consistent with what we've done for other childhood vaccines, like measles, mumps, polio," he said.
Approximately 65 million doses of the Pfizer pediatric shot have reportedly been bought by the United States government. In a meeting scheduled on October 26, the FDA's independent advisory group will examine whether to approve the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11.
But even when the experimental shot will be authorized for children, CDC Chief Rochelle Walensky said that her department would continue to urge that students wear masks in class.
