[ad_1]
The White House slammed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for not pre-ordering doses of the covid vaccine for children as the FDA authorized shots as young as six months old.
Florida is the only state that didn’t pre-order the medication to have on hand when the FDA made the authorization. Last week President Joe Biden’s administration encouraged states to get their order in ahead of the expected decision by the federal agency to permit shots for kids.
By not pre-ordering, Florida could be up to two weeks behind in getting enough doses of Pfizer and Moderna shots for children under five.
The White House claimed on Thursday afternoon that DeSantis relented.
‘We are encouraged that after repeated failures by Governor DeSantis to order COVID-19 vaccines even after every other state had ordered, the State of Florida is now permitting healthcare providers to order COVID-19 vaccines for our youngest children,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday afternoon.
She added that the administration urges ‘the state to order vaccines for its state and local health departments, so that all Florida parents have the opportunity to get their children vaccinated.’
The White House claimed DeSantis reversed himself and allowed state healthcare providers, including pediatricians and children’s hospitals, to order the vaccine.
But DeSantis’ office pushed back, saying they never told healthcare providers they couldn’t make the orders.
White House slammed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for not pre-ordering doses of the covid vaccine with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying he reversed course
Florida – led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis – was the only state not to pre-order doses of covid vaccine for kids five and under
Those private healthcare providers, however, were unable to access orders before a Tuesday deadline from the Centers Disease Control and Prevention to access initial doses over the first two weeks of availability. It could take up to two weeks for deliveries to arrive based on orders placed Friday, McClatchy reported.
The Miami Herald reported on Tuesday that Florida missed a deadline to request the shots be delivered into to roll them out starting June 21. In every other state, the jabs will be distributed to vaccine providers, pharmacies and pediatric clinics starting next week.
It comes after state health officials said in March that children and teens in the state do not need to get vaccinated because of the comparatively limited risk they face from Covid when compared to adults.
DeSantis reaffirmed his stance, blaming media hysteria for the fear some parents have of the virus, despite limited evidence children are at risk from the virus.
‘Our department of health has been very clear, the risks outweigh the benefits.,’ DeSantis said at a news briefing Thursday morning.
‘That’s not the same as banning it, people can still access it if they want to, and patents can to, but if you look at when they were doing the hearing, we had one physician say parents are really really frightened and we know that the risk is low, we’re not sure how this is gonna work, but parents are frightened about Covid for their kids.’
He said that fear, not science, is not a reason to approve the shots for kids, and pointed at the mainstream media as the reason for budding fear among parents.
‘Why would they be frightened about it? It’s because of media hysteria. It’s because of a lot of misinformation, that’s why they’re scared,’ he added.
Shots are purchased at the federal level, with the White House forking over the needed cash to acquire the shots. Then, states are to request allotments of the shots based on expected need, for which the federal government will fulfill to the best of its ability.
The FDA has authorized COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old, manufacturers announced Friday morning.
The expected move comes after the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top advisory panel voted to recommend both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for approval earlier this week.
Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be left to greenlight the shots ahead of their targeted rollout date on June 21. A CDC advisory panel is scheduled to meet over the weekend.
The move makes America the nation with the youngest eligible COVID-19 vaccine age, an odd move as data points to children suffering limited risk from the virus and vaccine uptake among children aged five to 13 being low.
According to CDC data, children make up 0.1 percent of the nation’s total deaths from the virus and are also less likely to suffer a severe case or hospitalization from Covid.
The FDA has approved both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for use in children aged six months to five years old. The jab is set to become available on Tuesday, pending approval from the CDC as well.
‘Many parents, caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age,’ Dr Robert Califf, commissioner of the FDA said in a statement.
‘As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death.’
Pfizer revealed preliminary data last month showing the vaccine was 80 percent effective at preventing infection from Omicron, though the efficacy rate may change as more trial participants need to be infected before the figures can be finalized.
The Pfizer jab will come in three doses, unlike the two dose standard set for older age groups. It will also be only three micrograms, a tenth of the size of the standard adult dose, and a third of dosage for children five through 12.
The switch was made towards the end of last year when early data showed that only two doses of the jab provided little protection against the virus.
‘We know many parents in the U.S. have been eagerly awaiting an authorized vaccine for their children under 5 and we are proud to now offer them a vaccine option with a favorable safety profile,’ Albert Bourla, CEO of New York City-based Pfizer, said in a statement.
Moderna will use a two-dose jab for young children, with each shot being 25 micrograms – a fourth the size of its adult sized shots.
In clinical trials, the Moderna shot was 50 percent effective at preventing mild infection from the virus.
[ad_2]
Source link
