Schools Take Central Role As Covid Vaccine Push Shifts To Youngsters

AP: Schools Take Lead Role In Promoting Vaccines For Youngsters
With the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for younger children, many elementary schools around the U.S. are preparing to offer the shots, which educators see as key to keeping students learning in person and making the classroom experience closer to what it once was. Some district leaders say offering vaccine clinics on campus, with the involvement of trusted school staff, is key to improving access and helping overcome hesitancy — particularly in communities with low overall vaccination rates. (Eaton-Robb, 11/7)

Axios: Schools Across The U.S. Offer COVID Vaccine Drives 
School districts across the U.S. have begun offering COVID-19 vaccine clinics following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's approval of the shot for younger patients, AP reports. Many parents eagerly awaited the vaccine's approval for children ages 5-11, as the return to in-person schooling this fall was accompanied by a spike in COVID-19 cases. Now, educators see getting shots in children's arms as key to a return to normalcy in the classroom. (Reyes, 11/7)

Jill Biden promotes vaccines in schools —

CNN: Jill Biden's Child Vaccine Tour Will Include Push For More Children Vaccination Sites 
First lady Jill Biden and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will make a push for boosting the number of Covid-19 vaccination sites for children Monday as they kick off a nationwide administration effort to encourage vaccines for the nation's youngest and newly eligible candidates. "Over the following weeks the First Lady will visit pediatric Covid-19 vaccination clinics across the country, including at schools, children's hospitals, and other community sites, and will encourage more sites to offer vaccines for children in their community and protect them from Covid-19," a White House official said. (Klein, 11/8)

CBS News: First Lady Jill Biden And Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Kick Off Kids Vaccination Campaign
First lady Jill Biden and Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, will be visiting a children's vaccination clinic at a school in McLean, Virginia, with historic significance in vaccine delivery. Franklin Sherman Elementary School was the first school in the nation to give children the polio vaccine in 1954. Jill Biden and Murthy are starting a campaign to get COVID-19 vaccine shots into the arms of children between the ages of 5-11 years of age. (Jiang, 11/6)

Being in school is better —

CBS News: Gottlieb Predicts "Broad Immunity" Among Children As More Get COVID-19 Vaccine
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who now serves on Pfizer's board of directors, said Sunday that he expects "broad immunity" against COVID-19 among younger children as more get vaccinated. "The uptake on a 5- to 11[-year-old] vaccine has been very brisk, and I suspect that uptake is going to be better than 12 to 17. There were some estimates that uptake would be less than 12 to 17. I think it could be the opposite," Gottlieb told "Face the Nation." "Right now, CVS is scheduled to deliver more than 1 million vaccines to kids ages 5 to 11 today, so I think you're going to see broad immunity get put into the child population." (Hayes, 11/7)

Axios: Study Finds In-Person Class Benefits Outweigh COVID Risks For Kids 
A new study looked at COVID-19 spread among schools and found that kids can safely remain in class with the proper mitigation measures. The toll of learning loss due to the pandemic has been enormous. With vaccines now approved for almost everyone older than 4 — and clear evidence that spread can be controlled in schools — classes should be able to remain open. (Walsh, 11/6)