Shots for tots: Vaccinations in U.S. begin

18 million children younger than 5 are now eligible

Little Fletcher Pack woke up Monday morning and asked: “Is today vaccine day?”

For the 3-year-old from Lexington, S.C., the answer was yes.

The nation’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers are finally getting their chance at COVID -19 vaccination as the U.S. rolls out shots for tots this week. Shipments arrived in some locations over the weekend and some spots, including a Walgreens in South Carolina and another in New York City, took appointments for Monday.

Fletcher’s mother said once her son is fully vaccinated, he can finally go bowling and visit the nearby children’s museum.

“He’s never really played with another kid inside before,” Mckenzie Pack said.

She began seeking an appointment last week as U.S. regulators took steps to OK the vaccines for children 6 months to 5 years old.

“It’s just relief,” Pack said. “With this vaccine, that’ll be his best shot at going back to normal and having a normal childhood.”

The Food and Drug Administration greenlighted the Moderna and Pfizer kid shots on Friday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them Saturday. In the U.S., COVID -19 vaccines were first tested and given in late 2020 to health care workers and older adults. Teens and school-age children were added last year.

“This is certainly an exciting moment in what has become a very long campaign to vaccinate people against COVID -19,” said Dr. Matthew Harris, an emergency room pediatrician at Northwell Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.

Roughly 18 million children younger than 5 are eligible.

“It’s just a huge step toward normalcy,” said Dr. Debra Langlois, pediatrician at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“We’re two-plus years into this pandemic and there’s things that my 4-year-old has never been able to do,” Langlois said.