HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – After an advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Wednesday to endorse the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for older children ages 12 to 15. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky accepted the recommendation making it official. And with that a new chapter in the nation’s vaccine rollout begins.
The emergency use authorization to that age group now clears the way for medical providers to start administering doses.
Dr. Ronald Ford, chief medical officer for Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital, said the hospital was prepared to administer the vaccine as soon as the approval was announced.
“Kids at this age are getting the virus more than they ever have, so they are a very important part of transmitting the virus to other people who many be more vulnerable. If we can get this age group immunized and take the virus away from that population we really will make an impact on how the virus is impacting our community on the whole,” Ford said.
Shots for children in the age group will begin Thursday, health experts said.
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, CDC (ACIP) Liaison Representative Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine said that several data sets are showing the pandemic causing deaths in children adding that the statistics are “unprecedented.”
Ford recommends that parents with questions consult with their pediatrician.
CVS Health and Florida Division of Emergency Management will begin administering the shots on Thursday.