CDC panel OKs vaccination for adolescents
Official authorization now sets the stage for allowing access to shots for 12- to 15-year olds
The Centers for Disease Control has endorsed the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children as young as age 12 on Wednesday, expanding access to the Pfizer shot to adolescents ahead of summer camps and the next school year.
This step, which has been highly anticipated by California’s public health officials, marks another milestone in the nation’s effort to combat the pandemic. On Wednesday evening, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup was expected to sign off on its use, triggering state distribution. “Providers may begin vaccinating right away,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, announcing her adoption of a recommendation by the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The state is poised to begin offering vaccine reservations this morning for 12- to 15-yearolds through the My Turn appointment system. Within the next several days and weeks, youth vaccines also will be available through many pediatric and family practice offices, as well as county clinics, health care networks such as Kaiser and pharmacies that offer vaccines, such as CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Ralphs, Rite Aid and Albertsons/ Safeway.
To encourage vaccination of the youth, the state is shifting its focus away from mass vaccination clinics to community-based and smaller health care groups, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Wednesday. Parents and children are more likely to trust a known provider to answer their questions, she said.
The state is enrolling an estimated 1,000 health care providers — including many specialists in adolescent care — into a network of vaccine distributors. It also is working to create consent forms that allow written letters, phone calls or videos from parents who are unable to accompany their child to the vaccine site.
The CDC committee voted unanimously in support of the vaccine expansion after hearing evidence of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, as well as increasing cases of COVID-19 illness and hospitalization of children. The illness now ranks among the top 10 causes of death in children.
Welcoming the vote, “Sometimes we lose the importance of children and adolescents in the midst of a pandemic,” said Dr. Grace Lee of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. “There’s been such a focus on older adults.”
“The childhood experience,” she said, “will have long lasting consequences that may extend across generations.”
In a change of policy, the panel’s experts updated recommendations about the
timing of vaccines.
Until Wednesday, authorities cautioned against the simultaneous administration of COVID-19 with other childhood vaccines, saying that studies had not yet been conducted to assure safety. COVID-19 vaccines required a 14-day interval before or after administration of any other vaccines. That could have posed a challenge for parents and pediatricians because children have fallen behind on their recommended immunizations during the pandemic — so there’s a lot of catching up to do, without much time. As the school year approaches, they faced repeated visits for multiple vaccinations over the course of the next several weeks.
In a shift, the CDC committee, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics, now supports the “co-administration” of childhood vaccines. Vaccine science does not suggest a danger, they said.
“Given the importance of routine vaccinations and the need for rapid uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics supports ‘co-administration’ of routine childhood and adolescent immunizations with COVID-19 vaccines ... for children and adolescents who are behind on, or are due for, immunizations,” said AAP representative Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine.
The two-shot regimen is safe and effective for younger adolescents, according to clinical trial data provided by Pfizer’s Dr. John Perez.
With 2.1 million Californians in this age group, “It’s a tremendous opportunity for that group to experience that sense of normalcy that they have been missing,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, at a Tuesday afternoon news briefing.
Vaccinating young teens will move us closer to the 80% threshold needed to obtain so-called herd immunity and slow viral spread, several public health experts say. And it offers peace of mind to families as teens return to typical activities.
To register online at My Turn, go to myturn.ca.gov/. As an alternative to registering online, people can schedule an appointment by calling 833-422-4255, with support for many languages.