ASHEBORO NC – Today, Randolph County Public Health (RCPH) announced they are now scheduling appointments for the Pfizer COVID-19 pediatric vaccine for children aged 5 through 11.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 for children 5 through 11 years of age on October 29th 201. According to the FDA website that authorization was based on the FDA’s thorough and transparent evaluation of the data that included input from independent advisory committee. The vaccine’s safety was studied in approximately 3,100 children age 5 through 11 who received the vaccine and no serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study.
Read more about the emergency use authorization and get more information on the FDA website:
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use-children-5-through-11-years-age
The Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for children is administered as a two-dose primary series, 3 weeks apart, but is a lower dose than that given for ages 12 and up.
The emergency use authorization comes at a time when parents are either unsure or hesitant about getting the vaccine for their child. A recent poll showed that one-third of parents say they will “wait and see” how the vaccine is working before getting their child vaccinated while three in ten say they definitely won’t get their child vaccinated. From those groups 30% and 5% respectively say they will only do so if their school requires it. There has been no word from local school systems on if they plan to require the vaccine.
The first scheduled clinic for the first dose of the pediatric vaccine is Tuesday, November 9, 2021 from 3:00-6:00 p.m. The second dose appointments will be scheduled for Tuesday, November 30, 2021 from 3:00-6:00 p.m. They say additional clinics will be scheduled for the coming weeks.