Covid Vaccine For Younger Kids Clears Final Hurdle With CDC Greenlight

Politico: CDC Endorses First Covid-19 Vaccine For Kids 5-11 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on allowing children ages 5 to 11 to receive Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for some 28 million kids to get access to the shots. The agency's decision came hours after its independent vaccine advisers unanimously recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for kids in that age group. (Gardner, 11/2)

The Washington Post: CDC Signs Off On Children’s Coronavirus Vaccine, Allowing Providers To Begin Immunizing Kids Ages 5 To 11 Immediately 
The go-ahead from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is a watershed moment in the fight against the pandemic, which has killed 745,000 people in the United States and infected nearly 2 million kids. Millions of families have waited for a children’s vaccine since the first adult shot was authorized last December, hoping their kids could finally resume in-person schooling and extracurricular activities without interruption — and that their own work schedules could become more predictable. (Sun and Shepherd, 11/2)

Stat: CDC Advisers Endorse Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccines For Kids 5-11 
The recommendation was applauded by the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Sharing this life-saving vaccine with our children is a huge step forward and provides us all with more confidence and optimism about the future,” AAP President Lee Savio Beers said in a statement. “Pediatricians are eager to participate in the immunization process and talk with families about this vaccine. We want to ensure that access to this vaccine is equitable, and that every child is able to benefit.” (Branswell, 11/2)

More details about pediatric vaccinations —

CBS News: When Can Kids Under 12 Get The COVID-19 Vaccine? What Parents Need To Know 
Federal health officials have encouraged Americans to check vaccines.gov to find locations near them with shots in stock. More locations will be added in the coming days as supplies are distributed around the country. Vaccines for kids will be available at many pediatricians' offices, as well as at children's hospitals, rural health clinics, pharmacies, some school-based clinics and other community locations. (Tin, 11/2)

AP: What To Know About Vaccines For Kids Aged 5-11
Children ages 5 to 11 will receive a third of the dose given to teens and adults. That’s 10 micrograms per shot for youngsters, compared to 30 micrograms per shot for everyone 12 and older. Like everybody else, the younger kids will get two shots, three weeks apart. ... In a study, Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine proved nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infection. Vaccinated youngsters developed levels of virus-fighting antibodies as strong as teens and young adults who’d received the full-strength dose. (Neergaard, 11/3)

The Atlantic: Why Kids Get A Smaller COVID Vaccine Dose
In the months since Pfizer announced its plans to adapt its COVID-19 vaccine for kids, the nicknames have been rolling in. Lil Pfizer, Pfizer-Mini, Pfizer Jr. (sorry, BioNTech; everyone tends to forget you). Others offer a cheeky play on Comirnaty, the shot’s tongue-twisting official title: Comirnito, Baby Comirnaty, or my personal favorite, ComirNatty Light. These monikers not only nod to the smaller humans the shots are designed for, but the actual size of the doses themselves. If Pfizer earns the expected thumbs-up from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky this week, children 5 to 11 years old will be getting 10 micrograms of RNA in each Pfizer shot, a third of the 30-microgram recipe that’s given to people 12 and older. Further down the road, pending another set of votes, authorizations, and recommendations, kids 4 and younger will get a wee 3 micrograms, a tenth of what their parents get. (Wu, 11/2)

Also —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: COVID Vaccine Clinics For Children Ages 5-11 Planned In Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Health Department has been planning COVID-19 vaccine clinics in anticipation of federal approval for children ages 5 to 11 to be inoculated. On Tuesday afternoon, that effort took a huge step forward at the federal level. Local officials spoke about their plans for vaccine clinics just hours before a committee advising the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously recommended that children in the age group receive the Pfizer vaccine. (Dirr and Bentley, 11/2)

The Baltimore Sun: COVID-19 Vaccinations For Maryland Children Ages 5 To 11 May Start By Friday 
With federal signoff on the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 doses for kids ages 5 to 11, local health departments, doctor offices, pharmacies and schools in Maryland may begin getting shots into kids’ arms as soon as Friday. Vaccine has begun arriving in provider offices already. A total of 180,000 doses will be distributed throughout the state in the coming weeks — enough for more than a third of the 515,000 children in that age range, but perhaps not sufficient to meet the earliest demand from parents. (Cohn and Miller, 11/3)

Axios: The Next Question For Kids Vaccines? School Mandates 
The CDC's approval Tuesday of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11-year-olds may open a new debate: whether schools should ultimately mandate them for that age group. Members of the advisory boards for both the CDC and the FDA raised concerns their votes allowing shots in arms for all kids regardless of medical status might ultimately trigger mandates in schools. "I'm just worried that if we say yes, that the states are going to mandate administration of this vaccine to children in order to go to school, and I do not agree with that," FDA committee member Cody Meissner said on Friday. (Fernandez, 11/3)

KHN: Montana’s Governor Nixed A Kids’ Vaccine Campaign, So Health Officials Plan Their Own 
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration quashed plans for a public service campaign to promote covid-19 vaccinations for eligible teenagers over the summer, a former state health official said. That has caused public health and medical experts to plan their own ad campaigns in anticipation that the administration won’t publicly back shots for kids as young as 5 when doses for young children roll out. A state endorsement and ad campaign on television, radio and the internet could encourage and persuade undecided parents to get their kids vaccinated. The lack of one could contribute to Montana’s continuing lag in vaccination rates and high ranking in covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths. (Bolton, 11/3)