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Washington: The US is expected to roll out Covid vaccinations for children under age 5 as early as June 21, the media reported. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s committee of independent experts are slated to meet on June 15 to review data on Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid shots for infants.
According to Dr Ashish Jha, the White House Covid response coordinator, the Joe Biden administration will initially make 10 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available to states, pharmacies and community health centres, CNBC reported. While the states can begin placing orders, the vaccine doses will ship only after the FDA authorises the shots, Jha was quoted as saying. Soon after the FDA approval, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention would issue its recommendations, which would allow vaccinations to begin after the Juneteenth federal holiday, he added.
“We’re going to ship doses out as fast as possible,” Jha told reporters during White House press briefing. “We’re going to make sure that supply is always meeting demand. And we’re going to do everything we can to make it easy for providers and parents alike to get their kids vaccinated,” he added. Jha acknowledged the frustration of parents of young children who have been waiting more than a year for shots for their kids. “At the end of the day we all want to move fast, but we’ve got to get it right,” he said.
