The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved giving the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric shots to millions of kids ages 5 to 11.

“CDC now expands vaccine recommendations to about 28 million children in the United States in this age group and allows providers to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible.”

– The CDC said in a statement (source: CNN Health)

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We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As a mom, I encourage parents with questions to talk to their pediatrician, school nurse or local pharmacist to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting their children vaccinated.

– Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of CDC (source: CNN Health)

Dr. Sarah Long, a professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and a members of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, reportedly said “We have one more vaccine that saves lives of children. And that we should be very confident to deploy it to the maximum to do what it is meant to do without significant concerns of serious adverse effects”.

The go-ahead from the CDC ends months of anxiety for children and their parents. We have already secured enough vaccine supply for every child in America.

– President Joe Biden (source: The Washington Post)

Dr. Beth Bell, a clinical professor of global health at the University of Washington, reportedly said after her vote “As you’ve heard, we all have a lot of enthusiasm for this vaccine in this age group. But we also understand that parents have legitimate concerns and legitimate questions and that our vote is a way of telling the American public that based on our expertise and the information that we have, we’re all very enthusiastic.”

“We were all talking about how we’re getting our kids and our grandkids vaccinated. But I think another point that we made to the American public is that we do understand that people have legitimate concerns and that they have lots of questions. We really encourage people to ask their providers, to visit the CDC website, to talk to their friends, their parents and do what they need to do to feel comfortable with their decision,” Dr. Bell added.

• 5- to 11-year-olds can now get a Covid-19 vaccine in the US
• COVID-19 vaccine campaign expands to elementary-age children
• Children under 12 start getting vaccinated immediately after CDC sign-off

Pres. Biden said in a statement “It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus”.

“Over the last several weeks, my Administration has been working hard to be prepared for this moment: we are ready to act. We have already secured enough vaccine supply for every child in America, and over the past weekend, we began the process of packing and shipping out millions of pediatric vaccine doses. These doses — specially designed for these younger children — have started to arrive at thousands of locations across the country.”

According to AP News, thousands of pediatricians around the country have already pre-ordered vaccine doses and Pfizer is expected to make 19,000 shipments totaling about 11 million doses in the next several days.