Vaccines for kids 12, up OK’D

Move may impact summer camps, return to schools

U.S. health advisers endorsed use of Pfizer’s COVID -19 vaccine in kids as young as 12 on Wednesday — just as planned new guidelines say it’s OK for people of any age to get a coronavirus shot at the same time as other needed vaccinations.

The shots will let kids safely attend camps this summer and help assure a more normal return to classrooms next school year, concluded advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The sprint to vaccinate millions of middle and high school students has already started in parts of the country, as a long line of kids rolled up their sleeves in suburban Atlanta for a first dose Wednesday.

Pfizer’s vaccine has been used for months in people 16 and older, and earlier this week the Food and Drug Administration

cleared its use for those as young as age 12. But before rolling it out to the younger kids, much of the nation was awaiting recommendations from CDC’S advisers — and the panel concluded the same dose adults use is safe and strongly protective in those 12 to 15 years old, too.

The CDC rapidly accepted its advisers’ recommendation.

A key question: Is it OK to get vaccinated against COVID -19 at the same doctor’s visit as people receive some routine vaccinations? That’s an urgent back-toschool concern especially for the 12- to 15-year-olds, who have missed out on regularly scheduled vaccines during the pandemic — but it’s an issue for adults, too.

The CDC until now has recommended not getting other vaccinations within two weeks of a COVID -19 shot, mostly as a precaution so that safety monitors could spot if any unexpected side effects cropped up.

But the CDC said Wednesday it is changing that advice because the COVID -19 vaccines have proved very safe — and that health workers can decide to give another needed vaccine at the same time for people of any age.

“The need for catch-up vaccination in coordination with COVID -19 vaccination is urgent as we plan for safe return to school,” CDC’S Dr. Kate Woodworth told the panel, citing millions of missed doses of vaccines against tetanus, whooping cough and other health threats.

The American Academy of Pediatrics on Wednesday also urged that kids 12 and older get the Pfizer vaccine — and agreed that it’s fine to give more than one vaccine at the same time, especially for kids who are behind on their regular vaccinations.

Children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill from COVID -19 — but they do sometimes die, and thousands have been hospitalized. By last month, those ages 12 to 17 were making up slightly more of the nation’s new coronavirus infections than adults over 65, a group that’s now largely vaccinated.