Vaccine eligibility expanding

Providers ready for 12- to 15-year-olds

COVID vaccine eligibility could be expanding this week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization Monday for the Pfizer vaccine to include adolescents age 12 to 15. Pfizer has been eligible for individuals age 16 and older. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for individuals age 18 and older.

“We are thrilled that the FDA’s research has determined the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective for individuals as young as 12,” said Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, in a press release. “This means that approximately 750,000 more Pennsylvanians will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19.”

While the FDA expanded the emergency use to include this younger age group, vaccinations for this group cannot start until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reviews the data and makes an official recommendation for use. The committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday.

“Once all of the approvals are in place, Pennsylvania vaccine providers will be ready to begin vaccinating these young people,” Beam said.

The state Department of Health said vaccine providers are being instructed to be ready for vaccination requests for this age group later this week.

Vaccine providers ready

Providers in and near Berks were in the process of finalizing clinic plans, and in some cases starting to provide signups for this age group Tuesday.

The Medicine Shoppe of Boyertown is working with Boyertown School District to host clinics specifically for this new age group.

“We know that we have a great number of people that want to have their children vaccinated and they’re probably going to want to do that prior to the end of the school year,”

said Ed Hudon, pharmacy owner. “That’s why we’re working as closely with the school district as we possibly can to get them started as soon as next week.”

More definitive plans on the clinics will be coming soon, but the idea is to do a series of four-hour clinics over four days.

“Just trying to get as many done as we possibly can because it seems we’re able to hit a larger number of people at one time as opposed to a few people in the store during work hours,” Hudon said.

Information on these clinics will be available on the pharmacy’s website medicineshoppeboyertown. com.

Anticipating an official recommendation from the committee meeting Wednesday, The Medicine Shoppe of Shillington announced via its Facebook page it is planning to host a first dose clinic this Saturday with signups available for those in the 12 to 15 age group. The pharmacy said in the post it will be ready to have the clinic on Saturday once the recommendation passes. Information is available at shillingtonms. com/pharmacy-request-covid-19-vaccine.

The county’s two health systems, Tower Health and Penn State Health, are preparing to open up registration for the age group once the recommendation is passed. Legal guardians will need to be with the adolescents during their appointment. Dr. Karen Wang, director of pediatric services at Berks Community Health Center, noted the COVID-19 vaccine should not be given within two weeks of other vaccination.

Berks Cares Vaccine Center

Berks County Commissioner Kevin S. Barnhardt, who is leading the community vaccination task force, said he is excited about the idea of getting younger people vaccinated.

While plans for providing vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds are still being developed, Barnhardt said he would like to see it be a priority and hopes the Berks Cares Vaccine Center can play a large role in the effort.

“I would love to see as many 12- to 15-year-olds in so then we have peace of mind when the kids go back to school in August,” he said. “Everyone is a priority because we want everyone to get vaccinated, but I think we will want to prioritize those, who up until this point, have not had the opportunity.”

Barnhardt said the Berks Community Health Center, which is providing vaccines for the county clinic, is able to order all three available vaccines. It will take some work to figure out the logistics of making sure Pfizer vaccines are on hand for younger patients.

That issue will likely be a big part of the conversation at the community vaccination task force’s weekly meeting on Wednesday, Barnhardt said.

“We will likely pivot our focus to getting younger people in when we know that we have Pfizer coming in,” he said. “And we will probably have a concentrated media effort to get people to bring their children to the vaccine center.”

Wang said the health center is prepared to begin giving the Pfizer vaccine starting next week at the Berks Care Vaccine Center.

“We’re anticipating approval (for this age group),” she said. “We’ve ordered Pfizer vaccine and have shifted the hours of the vaccine center to allow for some early morning and some evening hours and being open on May 22 for appointments.”

Pediatricians react

The expected expansion of eligibility was good news for pediatricians in Berks.

“I represent a lot of people who think it’s a great thing that we’re going to be able to start vaccinating this age group,” said Dr. Olubunmi Ojikutu, chair of the department of pediatrics at Reading Hospital.”

Ojikutu gave three primary reason she thinks the expansion is a great thing, all points her fellow pediatricians also made in their responses.

The first is for the child’s own protection.

“This is one of the age groups, along with young adults, that is having the most positive cases in the last month or so,” said Dr. Jessica Ericson, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. “The biggest reason that I’m excited that 12- to 15-year-olds are about to be eligible for the vaccine is that this is the age group that’s most likely to have the complication Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children among pediatric age groups.”

According to Ojikutu, children who have had COVID-19 can get very sick with MIS-C and, in some cases, need to be hospitalized or placed in an intensive care unit.

“We also know that over 400 children have died from COVID-19 infection,” Ojikutu said. “Which is more than the number of deaths we’ve had in the past two decades in our worst flu season.”

Wang added that it is impossible to know which child would be fine after having COVID-19 and which would have a severe case of COVID-19 or get MIS-C.

“Children’s immune systems are generally very robust, and while it’s true the vast majority of kids who get the COVID infection do not have serious problems, we can’t predict ahead of time exactly who that will be,” Wang said. “This vaccine is safe and effective, and has been adequately tested.”

The second reason for Ojikutu is vaccinations will help combat some of the noninfectious negative impacts of the pandemic.

Teenagers have been hit particularly hard by the isolation and stress associated with the pandemic while also having their coping mechanisms, such as school and gathering with peers, taken away.

“The mental health toll on 12- to 18-year-olds has been massive,” Wang said. “I’ve seen that personally in my practice.”

Being able to vaccinate this group will allow a closer return to normalcy.

Ojikutu’s third reason is getting closer to herd immunity.

“There are 17 million kids that are age 12 to 15 in this country,” said Dr. Christopher Valente, chief of the division of pediatric emergency medicine at Reading Hospital. “I read that adding that age group to immunization eligibility brings the total addressable population to 87%. We’re closing the gap.”

Dr. Debra Powell, chief of the division of infectious disease and medical director of infection prevention at Reading Hospital, agreed.

“It’s going to be key,” she said. “It’s going to be hard to get to 80% of our population vaccinated if we don’t vaccinate that portion of our population.”

Looking at the data

Valente is also excited about the data from the clinical trial.

“It’s hard to argue with data,” he said.

According to the FDA, 2,260 participants, ages 12 through 15, were enrolled in an ongoing, randomized, placebo-controlled clinic trial in the U.S. for the Pfizer vaccine. Reported side effects in trial participants were consistent with those reported in trial participants age 16 and older.

In Valente’s reading of the trial, he said there were no cases of COVID-19 in those who received the vaccine while there were 18 cases in those who received the placebo. The preliminary data shows the vaccine is safe and effective for adolescents in this age group, which is a good thing Valente said.

“This is a safe thing for your children,” he said.

For those who are concerned about getting their own vaccine or their child being vaccinated, Ojikutu encourages them to speak with their primary care provider and with those who have already been vaccinated.

“No question is a bad question,” she said. “The important thing is that you’re discussing it with someone you trust to have credible references.”

The pediatricians not only recommend their patients get the vaccine when they are eligible, but for their own children as well.

“I have no hesitation for giving it to my own children (when they are eligible),” Ericson said.

Ojikutu and Valente, who also have children not yet eligible, shared similar thoughts.

“Absolutely,” said Ojikutu.

“If I did have a 12- to 15-year-old, that child would be getting this immunization because based on what we know, it’s safe and it works,” Valente said.

Wang said she is 100% in support of vaccinating as many 12-to 15-year-olds as possible.

“My own children have been vaccinated,” she said. “I would recommend the same to my friends and family members.”

BEN HASTY — READING EAGLE