Vax for New York’s youngest expected soon
Enterprise file photo — Michael Koff
Eleanor Parker, a kindergartner at Lynnwood Elementary School, got a COVID vaccine last fall, soon after vaccinations were authorized for her age group. Now, vaccines for children from six months to 5 years old are about to receive emergency use authorization.
The Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory Committee on Wednesday approved expanding emergency use authorization for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children from six months through 5 years old.
After the FDA makes a final decision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make its recommendation.
New York State is making preparations to boost vaccination rates among children under the age of 5, according to a Wednesday release from the governor’s office; vaccine providers across the state have already placed preliminary orders for 39,000 doses.
“This is welcome news that parents and guardians have been patiently waiting for in order to give their young children the best protection from COVID-19,” Governor Kathy Hochul said in the release. “Once approved, I encourage parents and guardians to reach out to their pediatricians about getting their young children vaccinated during the summer break. The vaccine is our best defense against COVID-19, and we will continue to make this tool widely available to New Yorkers as part of our ongoing pandemic preparedness efforts.”
The state’s health department is “working to ensure providers across the state will be able to request additional doses, as well as developing a comprehensive statewide paid media campaign to encourage vaccinations that will launch this summer,” the governor’s office said.
About 18 million children younger than 5 are the only United States residents not eligible for vaccination against COVID-19.
On Sunday, the FDA had posted its evaluation ahead of the scheduled June 15 meeting of experts who then made recommendations on both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for children.
Both are messengerRNA vaccines like those the companies make for adults.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine involves three doses at one-tenth the strength of the adult shot while the Moderna regimen is for two doses, each at a quarter the strength of the adult shot.
Moderna’s emergency-use request is for children 6 months through 17 years old while the Pfizer-BioNTech emergency-use request is for children 6 months through 4 years of age; Pfizer already has approval for children age 5 and older.
