Adolescents eye normalcy with OK of vaccine
MISSION, Kan. — Parents, schools and vaccine clinics rushed to begin inoculating younger adolescents Tuesday after U.S. regulators endorsed Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 12, a decision seen as a breakthrough in allowing classroom instruction to resume safely around the country.
A handful of cities started offering shots to children ages 12 to 15 less than a day after the Food and Drug Administration gave the vaccine emergency use authorization for that age group. Most communities were waiting for a federal advisory committee that meets Wednesday to sign off on the move, while anxious families called clinics and pharmacies to ask about the soonest appointments.
In Atlanta, 12-year-old Jane Ellen Norman got her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at MercedesBenz Stadium on Tuesday morning. The girl said she looked forward to having “a little bit more freedom.”
Her mother, English Norman, said she also booked an appointment for her 14-year-old son immediately after learning that the FDA on Monday had declared the vaccine safe for the nearly 17 million 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. Now, the entire family — including Norman’s husband, a physician, and their 17-year-old son — has begun the vaccination process.
“We’re five for five,” the 52year-old artist said.
Most COVID-19 vaccines worldwide have been authorized for adults. Pfizer’s vaccine is being used in multiple countries for teens as young as 16, and Canada recently became the first to expand use to children 12 and up. Parents, school administrators and public health officials elsewhere have eagerly awaited approval for the shot to be made available to more young people.
The official sign-off on the vaccine’s use in the 12-15 age group will not occur until at least Wednesday, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee meets. Local governments that began offering shots right away viewed the FDA decision on Monday as enough of a green light to start the process.
“Under all relevant legal authority, once the FDA gives approval, a prescriber is permitted to prescribe the vaccine,” Kelly Cofrancisco, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, said as shots for residents 12 and up started Tuesday.
In the Kansas City area, Children’s Mercy Hospital has run vaccine clinics for 16- to 21-yearolds since last month and plans to expand them to cover the younger ages soon. Dr. Ryan McDonough, a pediatrician who oversees the COVID-19 vaccine clinics, said he has been deluged with calls from patients and texts from friends and relatives wanting to sign up their kids.
“It is about getting back to normal,” McDonough said. “It is about getting their kid in school five days a week. It is about going to see grandma and grandpa. It is about getting back to sports. It is all about normalcy, and people just want to get back to pre-pandemic life.”
Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez said her son, Nicolas, had hoped to be part of the clinical trials for the Pfizer but they were no longer signing up participants by the boy’s 12th birthday. The family relocated this summer to San Antonio when Verduzco-Gutierrez accepted a new job and it’s been difficult for Nicolas to make friends or explore much.
Attending classes in person helped, but there’s not much time to socialize at school. Masks and social distancing don’t make it any easier either, he said, and he’s looking forward to getting vaccinated.
“It will be really nice to be able to say, ‘Hey, want to go get ice cream or something?’ ” Nicolas said.
But not everyone is eager. Polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that just 3 in 10 parents of children ages 12 to 15 say they would get their child vaccinated as soon as possible. One-quarter said they would wait a while to see how the vaccine is working.