Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida’s Order for Kids’ Vaccine Dwarfed By Other Large States
Tampa Bay Times: Florida Ordered 90,000 Child Vaccine Doses. Texas Ordered 1 Million.
Florida health officials say they preordered approximately 90,000 child-size doses of the Pfizer vaccine. That’s enough to fully vaccinate 3 percent of Florida’s approximately 1.7 million children ages 5 to 11. Texas, another Republican-led state, preordered 1 million doses — enough to fully vaccinate over 17 percent of the state’s children in the same age group. California preordered 860,000 doses, enough to fully vaccinate 13 percent of kids there. (Hodgson and Wilson, 11/11)
CBS News: Once-Healthy Kids Struggling With Symptoms Months After COVID-19 Infection
Madison Foor, a 14-year-old competitive dancer, was healthy before she contracted COVID-19 in January. Ten months later, she uses an inhaler every day. "It feels a little scary, like I can't breathe," she said. (Oliver, 11/11)
Axios: Lasting Changes Ahead For "Generation COVID"
The generation of kids and young adults who are coming of age in the midst of the pandemic will likely be shaped by COVID for the rest of their lives — and researchers are starting to offer a glimpse at how. Massive news events — most recently the Great Recession and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for older millennials — can be drivers for changing how generations generally view the world, spend money and form relationships. While there's no way to really know what will happen, behavioralists are trying to understand which changes might ultimately stick for Gen Z, as well as younger kids which some have started calling "Generation C." (Fernandez, 11/12)
On a vaccination mistake in Virginia —
CNBC: Virginia Pharmacy Incorrectly Administers Covid Vaccine To 112 Kids, Officials Pull Remaining Doses
A pharmacy in Virginia incorrectly administered Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 shots to 112 children last week, according to the state Department of Health. “The pharmacy attempted to provide a proper dose,” Loudoun County Health Department director Dr. David Goodfriend told CNBC on Thursday. He said it appears the pharmacy did administer about a third of the adult dose, which should be the correct amount. However, “a lower dose is possible if not all of the 0.1 ml was administered into muscle,” he said. (Towey, 11/11)
The Washington Post: Ted Pharmacy In Loudoun County Gave Wrong Coronavirus Vaccine Dose To More Than 100 Children Ages 5 To 11, Officials Say
A Loudoun County pharmacy has been ordered to stop administering coronavirus vaccine shots after it incorrectly gave 5-to-11-year-olds formulations designed for older kids and adults, the Virginia Department of Health said this week. Ted Pharmacy in Aldie administered the shots to 112 children on Nov. 3 and 4, officials said, giving them vaccine formulas designed for older children or adults but in smaller amounts. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one so far authorized in the U.S. for children under 12, is supposed be given to them at one-third of the dosage given to adolescents, teenagers and adults. (Thompson, 11/11)
Also —
AP: Last 3 Florida School Districts Drop Student Mask Mandates
The last three school districts in Florida that required at least some students to wear masks are dropping their mandates for student facial coverings. Starting Friday, grade school students in Miami-Dade schools can opt out of wearing a mask if they have their parents’ permission. Masks already had been optional for high school and some middle school students. In neighboring Broward County, all students can go without masks starting the week after next. No opt-out form from parents is required, though the school district is strongly encouraging students to wear facial coverings, according to the Miami Herald. Masks already were optional for high school and technical college students. (11/11)
Kansas City Star: KC Doctors Try To Calm Concern Over Children’s COVID Vaccine
When her oldest child turned 12 in August and became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Laura Mulcahy hesitated. Michael, like everyone else in the family, already had COVID, so she figured he had natural immunity. “I thought, ‘Do I really need to get him vaccinated, because obviously his body was able to fight off COVID,’” said Mulcahy, who lives in the Northland. “So I wasn’t entirely sure that it was necessary.” Last week, when children ages 5 through 11 became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, parents jumped to fill the first appointments around Kansas City. (Gutierrez, 11/12)
