Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Littlest Kids Could Start Getting Covid Shots In Weeks
AP: White House: 1st Shots For Kids Under 5 Possible By June 21
The Biden administration said Thursday that children under 5 may be able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group, as expected. White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last remaining ineligible age group to get shots. He said the Food and Drug Administration’s outside panel of advisers will meet on June 14-15 to evaluate the Pfizer and Moderna shots for younger kids. Shipments to doctors’ offices and pediatric care facilities would begin soon after FDA authorization, with the first shots possible the following week. (Miller, 6/2)
NPR: COVID Vaccinations For Kids Younger Than 5 Could Start In Late June
In a White House briefing on Thursday, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator, said if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes vaccines for the youngest kids soon after a June 15 advisory meeting, shipments of the first 10 million doses could start arriving at doctors' offices as soon as the following weekend. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would also have to weigh in. Ultimately, the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, would have to give the go-ahead before vaccination could start. "We expect that vaccination will begin in earnest as early as June 21 and really roll on throughout that week," Jha said. (Stein, 6/2)
The New York Times: Youngest Children Could Get Covid Shots In Late June, White House Says
“I want to be very clear that I am not here to prejudge the outcome of the process,” Dr. Jha said. “But the administration is hard at work planning all sorts of scenarios based on whatever the outcome is.” He said the administration has been working closely with local health departments, pediatricians and family doctors, and has asked states to distribute the initial tranche of doses to sites like children’s hospitals, which serve the most vulnerable young patients, and sites in neighborhoods hardest hit by the pandemic. (Stolberg, 6/3)
CNN: White House Says Covid-19 Shots For Kids Under 5 Could Begin As Soon As June 21
The vaccination program for children younger than 5 would come more than 18 months after vaccines were first authorized for adults. Dr. Ashish Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, laid out a timeline for authorization of vaccines for children younger than 5 at an afternoon news briefing. The US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisers will review data submitted by Pfizer and Moderna during a meeting on June 14-15, and the agency will then decide whether to authorize the vaccines for emergency use. (Carvajal, 6/2)
