President Biden spoke about vaccines against Covid-19 for children under 5 on Tuesday from the White House. Credit … Haiyun Jiang / The New York Times
President Biden on Tuesday marked what White House officials have seen as the unofficial start of the U.S. vaccination campaign for children under 5, visiting a venue in Washington, DC, to meet with families and children while some vaccinations were administered.
“Finally, a little reassurance,” Mr Biden told the White House after the event in statements celebrating the availability of gunfire, calling it a “monumental step forward” in response to the pandemic. of the nation.
Federal health officials, eager to show the progress the United States has made in defending deadly coronavirus cases, have been working for weeks to prepare parents and doctors to immunize younger children, a population of about 20 million who has waited 18 months. first the adults were eligible for the shots.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late last week approved the Modern and Pfizer-BioNTech features for young children following votes by independent expert committees.
Mr. Biden said he met with about 17 families at the Washington vaccination site with children who had already received a vaccine or were about to do so. A federal website, vaccines.gov, was updated on Tuesday to show where vaccines could be found, he said.
Arsema Desta, a Washington-registered nurse who helps with local pediatric vaccination efforts, introduced the president to the White House and said vaccinations for young children were important “because it allows multigenerational households to ensure that all members of the household are vaccinated. “
The Biden administration has already made at least 10 million doses available to states and health care providers and hopes to rely heavily on pediatricians and primary care offices to administer them, as is usual in pediatric vaccination. Pharmacies and community health centers, among other providers, will also vaccinate the little ones.
But as of last week’s deadline, only 2.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been ordered, about half of what the federal government offered, as well as about 1.3 million doses of Modern, about a quarter of what was offered.
Dr. Deborah M. Greenhouse, a pediatrician from Columbia, SC, said that as of Tuesday afternoon, her consultation had still been waiting for about 1,000 doses to arrive. He said the parents he had met so far fall into three categories: those who knocked on doors to get the vaccine; those interested but who need some consultation; and totally resilient families.
She said the lower absorption among children ages 5 to 11 was a “real concern” she and her classmates had, but hoped to overcome it with younger children. Only about 37% of children in the age group have received at least one dose.
Pediatricians are especially important for families when it comes to making the decision, he said.
“Once it’s being implemented and you have many of the first adoption groups, once your kids have been vaccinated and there are more data and bigger numbers, that’s what will attract” families hoping to decide, he said.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Biden again warned of a lack of funding for a response to the federal pandemic, suggesting that it could hinder future attempts to undo possible increases. Federal health officials have been asking lawmakers for months to provide more money for vaccines and treatments. But negotiations have stalled, they even became publicly hostile in a Senate hearing last week.
Mr. Biden also seemed to have a blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. State health care providers were able to order late child care last week after Florida became the only state to reject the pre-order, White House officials said. State officials denied that they had reversed their position and said they had maintained a policy to allow orders after FDA authorization.
“Let’s be clear: elected officials should not get in the way and make it harder for parents who want their children to be vaccinated and want to protect them and those around them,” Biden said. “This is not the time for politics. It’s about parents being able to do everything they can to protect their children. “