States Urge Parents To Be Ready To Vaccinate Teens, Preteens This Week

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Parents Can Now Schedule COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments For Children 12 And Up, Officials Say
State public-health officials on Monday began allowing Alaska parents to sign up their children 12 and up for COVID-19 vaccine appointments, which will begin as early as Wednesday. That move is in response to a Monday decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant an Emergency Use Authorization to drug company Pfizer for use of its new vaccine for people ages 12 through 15. A federal advisory committee to the CDC is scheduled to review the data from the FDA and give its final recommendations early in the day on Wednesday, said Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, during a call with reporters. The CDC will then offer their recommendation on Wednesday, too. (Berman, 5/10)

Burlington Free Press: Vermont Department Of Health Expects To Move Quickly To Vaccinate 12 to 15 Year Olds
When children 12 and older get approved for the COVID-19 vaccine, the roll out should happen quickly according the Vermont Department of Health, and parents can get ready now. A meeting this Wednesday by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to make recommendations for this age group. “So, if you have a child in this group, start planning ahead by creating an account on our website. Or if you already have one, you can add your child to your own account as a dependent," Health Commissioner Mark Levine said at Friday's press conference. "Then you’ll be prepared to make their appointment when we open registration.” (Barton, 5/10)

Want some crawfish, a lottery ticket or Girl Scout cookies? Get a jab —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Giving Away A Pound Of Free Crawfish With Each COVID Vaccine At This Event
Louisiana food can spark envy in people living elsewhere. So can the state’s easy access to COVID-19 vaccine. The latest push to encourage more people to join the fight against the pandemic combines the two with free crawfish on offer to the public at a Thursday vaccination event in New Orleans. People who show up for the free vaccine at 4035 Washington Ave. on May 13, from 4-7 p.m., will get a free pound of boiled crawfish. (McNulty, 5/10)

AP: Kentucky Lottery Offers Free Tickets For COVID Vaccinations
Kentuckians aged 18 and up who get their first or second dose at a participating Kroger or Walmart can now receive a coupon for a Kentucky lottery ticket. Some 225,000 coupons are available for the Kentucky Cash Ball through May 21, which has a top prize of $225,000. Customers have until June 1 to redeem their coupons. (5/11)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Vaccine Clinics Will Hand Out Girl Scout Cookies
First it was T-shirts. Now it's Girl Scout cookies. State health officials announced Monday that anyone who gets vaccinated at specially designated sites will receive a box of Girl Scout cookies along with the jab. Late last week the Indiana Department of Health and Indianapolis Motor Speedway unveiled special commemorative T-shirts to be given to people who are vaccinated at the Speedway this month. The white T-shirt proclaims, "Got My COVID-19 shot" under a picture of two checkered flags. (Rudavsky, 5/10)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

Axios: Montana To Give COVID-19 Vaccines To Canadian Truck Drivers 
Montana's government announced in statement Friday that it will be offering free COVID-19 vaccines to Canadian truck drivers from Alberta. Starting Monday, about 2,000 Albertan truckers who regularly drive goods into the U.S. will be able to get vaccinated at a stop in Conrad, Montana, per a press release from the Alberta government. (Saric, 5/10)

The Oregonian: Portland Area’s 3 Largest COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Sites Will Close In June, Due To Slowing Demand 
The operators of three of the state’s largest COVID-19 mass vaccination sites announced Monday that they plan to close in June due to shrinking demand. The Oregon Convention Center inoculation site will shutter June 19, and the drive-thru sites at Portland International Airport’s Red Economy parking lot and Hillsboro Stadium will cease operations June 25. (Green, 5/10)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County May Hit COVID-19 Herd Immunity By End Of July
Los Angeles County could reach herd immunity from the coronavirus among adults and the oldest teenagers by mid- to late July, another milestone that underscores the region’s rapid recovery from the pandemic. Herd immunity, sometimes referred to as community immunity, occurs when enough people have been inoculated or have obtained natural immunity to protect the larger population against the virus. Experts had previously expressed concern that waning demand for the COVID-19 vaccines and uneven vaccination rates could make it hard to reach that goal. (Lin II and Smith, 5/10)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin COVID Herd Immunity Hard Without Evangelicals' Acceptance
Among people who definitely will not, or probably will not, get the vaccine, a March Pew Research Center poll showed a gap of 9 percentage points between white evangelical Protestants and the next closest religious demographic. Another March poll, this one by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found 40% of white evangelical Protestants saying they likely won't be vaccinated. The following month, a study by the Public Religion Research Institute found 28% of white evangelical Protestants considered themselves hesitant about getting the vaccine, and another 26% flat-out refuse. (Carson, 5/10)

KHN: What The Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean For One Rural Montana County 
The covid vaccination operation at the Flathead County fairgrounds can dole out 1,000 doses in seven hours. But demand has plummeted recently, down to fewer than 70 requests for the shots a day. So, at the start of May, the northwestern Montana county dropped its mass vaccination offerings from three to two clinics a week. Though most of those eligible in the county haven’t yet gotten a dose, during the final Thursday clinic on April 29, few cars pulled up and nurses had time to chat between patients. (Houghton, 5/11)

CNN: These Are The States With The Highest And Lowest Vaccination Rates 
About 58% of American adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine -- but the rates differ depending on where you look. At the top of the list is Vermont, where 74.5% of adults have had at least one vaccine dose. Every state in the Northeast has given at least one dose to over 60% of its adult residents, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the bottom is Mississippi, where 41.5% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose. Similarly, every state on its border has vaccinated less than half of its adult residents. (Levenson, 5/10)

WLRN 91.3 FM: COVID Vaccines A Money-Maker For Doctors, Pharmacies, Supermarkets 
Think your COVID vaccine was free? It wasn’t. Although you didn’t have to pay anything for the shots, the fees paid by insurance companies and the federal government put as much as $150 million in the pockets of Florida pharmacies, grocery stores and private medical practices. Few begrudge these companies the chance to make money for providing a life-saving service during an international health crisis. But a look at doses provided to Publix, Walgreens, CVS and private doctors shows that the COVID vaccine business provided a big source of revenue after a difficult year. (Fleshler and Goodman, 5/10)

Crain's Detroit Business: COVID-19 Vaccines Give Healthcare Businesses A Shot At New Customers
Beaumont Health likes to present itself in television and radio advertisements and in media interviews about how it has treated the most patients with COVID-19 and vaccinated the most people in Michigan against coronavirus. But lately Beaumont's advertisements may be coming very close to the line that separates educational efforts to encourage people to getting vaccines to business marketing campaigns intended to generate customers and loyalty, improve quality reputation and drive higher revenue. For example, Beaumont has had a TV ad out since early March with a nurse touting its vaccination center and declaring Beaumont hospitals have treated more COVID-19 patients than any other hospital system in Michigan. (Greene, 5/10)