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Eighteen months after a nurse in New York received the first coronavirus vaccine in the United States, immunizations became available Tuesday to millions of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, the last group of Americans to receive the protection.
Pediatricians, drugstores, hospitals and community vaccination centers have started administering the first doses of two vaccines to children: the Pfizer-BioNTech product to children aged 6 months to 4 years; and the Moderna vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years of age.
Some parents rushed to receive the vaccine early Tuesday morning. In Washington, D.C., Chinmai’s 14-month-old daughter, Hegde Ada, was the first child to receive an injection Tuesday morning at Children’s National Hospital. She shuddered as the needle went in, but it wasn’t as bad as her routine vaccines.
“The last time we came here, she got five shots in the same day,” Hegde said. “I think the fact that there was only one, she said, ‘Oh, great, good deal.'”
In a city-run covid center on U Street, a queue of parents and strollers curled up around the corner as Asia Perazic waited with her 3-year-old son Mika and 1-year-old daughter Zia.
“I wish it had happened earlier,” Perazic said as Mika scribbled in a watercolor book. “It would be nice to take them to a restaurant and not worry.”
In Houston, Jim Versalovic, chief pathologist at the Texas Children’s Hospital, said: “We started vaccinating the first children at 6 in the morning. We now have injections into the weapons. We have hundreds of children in line and our goal is to provide this vaccine to thousands of children in the greater Houston and Texas area.
“Children do better or better than adults,” he added.
President Biden spoke at the White House Tuesday afternoon, calling the development, which affects about 19 million children nationwide, “a very historic milestone, a monumental step forward.” He said the United States is now the first nation to offer a vaccine to six-month-olds, and called on parents to vaccinate their children. Earlier, Biden visited the city-run coronavirus center, which offers vaccines to children.
Nancy Weiss of Chicago said she had scheduled a meeting to vaccinate her 3-year-old daughter next week. Weiss said she was waiting for this moment for her daughter’s “health and protection” to make the family feel safer when she visited the girl’s grandparents.
Weiss said the vaccine would also help “my own mind.” Weiss said her daughter’s day care is currently closed if a child or teacher gets a coronavirus; once the children are vaccinated, they will keep the center open if necessary. The vaccine will also alleviate Wyss’ worries about flying.
“We are going on a trip in early August, so it is more convenient for us to fly with her and see her grandparents. It’s exciting. We’ve been waiting a long time,” she said.
For parents who have been eager to vaccinate their children, tuesday was the end of a long, difficult period when babies, young children and pre-school children did not have access to vaccines that proved highly effective in preventing death and hospitalization for the rest of the population.
But a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor, published in May, found that they are a separate minority. Eighteen percent of parents with children under the age of 5 said they wanted to vaccinate young people immediately. More than a third of parents – 38% – said they plan to see how the vaccine works in other children, and 27% said they “definitely will not” vaccinate their children. Eleven percent said they would do so if necessary.
The study was conducted before the Food and Drug Administration found that vaccines were safe and effective for young children, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave them the green light on Saturday.
In some places there was an initial rush to meet. “It’s really only been about 24 hours since the vaccine was delivered, and our call center is flooded with phone calls about getting the vaccine,” said Mary Zimmerman, a nurse and immunization specialist at Spectrum Health in Michigan.
There was a one-day delay in New York while vaccine sites awaited final approval from the State Department of Health. Matthew Harris, an emergency pediatrician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens and medical director of the coronavirus vaccine program at Northwell Health, said vaccinations for children under 5 in New York are likely to begin Wednesday.
Florida, which refused to pre-order a vaccine until the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) withdrew and allowed doctors to request it on Friday, is unlikely to have vaccinations until later this week, according to the state Department of Health. The state government, which does not recommend the vaccine for healthy children, was the only one in the nation not to pre-order the vaccine.
Biden said Tuesday that “elected officials should not hinder or hinder him” for parents who want to see their children vaccinated. “It’s not time for politics.”
About 13.5 million children have tested positive for the virus, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which offers some protection against it. According to federal health data, which analyzed blood tests, the number is even higher – by the end of February it showed that 3 out of 4 children in the country were infected with coronavirus.
Follow-up of coronavirus cases
However, health authorities say all children should be vaccinated because it is the best way to ensure lasting protection for children and reduce the chances of other infections and complications.
Children are less likely than other people in other age groups to become seriously ill with the virus, but they are not invulnerable. More than 1,000 have died, more than 40,000 have been hospitalized and more than 8,500 have suffered a condition called multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which can cause inflammation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, eyes, etc. authorities, According to the CDC.
Houston parent Brittany Krueger said Tuesday she would not vaccinate her children.
“My children had covid and the only reason we know is that we had it. That’s why we tested them. They did not show any symptoms, like most of the children we know, “she said. “I feel that my children their age have a very low risk of covid side effects. In fact, I’m more afraid of what a newer market shot will do in the long run. “
But Amish Vakil, who has 3-year-old twins, Jian and Kian, one of whom is at high risk while awaiting a heart transplant, was in Texas Children at 6:30 a.m. to vaccinate both children.
“Vaccinating my two children today means a lot to us, especially giving Gian this shield, a little armor,” she said.
“We were almost quarantined for two years,” she added. “We could not send them to preschool or other activities. Kian also stayed home because he could bring something home with him.
Coronavirus vaccine follow-up
Nearly 67 percent of the U.S. population has been vaccinated, a share that has barely increased in recent months, despite the efforts of government and private health officials. The virus has killed more than 1 million Americans, the largest known total of any nation in the world.
At Seattle Children’s Hospital, parents and their children stood in front of the vaccination room for 15 minutes. Some children had barely spoken their first words, and others were restless in the corridors. The hospital was prepared; the Seattle Doppler storm mascot has arrived to give children a 7-foot, red and yellow, shaggy distraction.
Erin Murphy, who was in the hospital with her 3-year-old son, said COVID-19 precautions prevented him from attending his great-grandfather’s funeral and he stayed home with his father. Now the boy has joined his family by being vaccinated and there is documentary evidence to prove it.
“Everyone got a picture when he was vaccinated, and now he has his own,” Murphy said.
Edwin Lindo, who teaches critical racial theory at the University of Washington School of Medicine, was among the first to line up and sees the vaccination of his two young children as a step against the inequalities uncovered by the pandemic. When his 8-month-old son was infected two months ago, “It was scary,” he said. Lindo brought the baby to the hospital during his illness – and returned him on Tuesday to be vaccinated.
“This is our way of fighting and saying that we will not be a product of the legacy of racism, we will not succumb to statistics. We will live another day to fight so that we can really change the results of our community, “Lindo said.
Mark Del Beccaro, assistant deputy head of coronavirus testing and immunization programs at the Seattle-King County Public Health Service, said he expects young children’s vaccinations to increase next month and then be phased out. as more and more families hesitate about the effects on younger children. King County is one of the most vaccinated counties in the United States.
“It’s a great time to be vaccinated so that people can worry less about family reunions, and it’s just as important to be prepared for the fall, when everyone will be back inside,” Del Beccaro said.
Katie Shepard in Washington, D.C., Guarino in Chicago, Ken Hoffman in Houston, Barbara Liston in Orlando, Ian Morse in Seattle and Jack Wright in New York contributed to this report.
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