Health & Fitness
Connecticut Preparing To Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine For Children
States have been told they should be ready to distribute the vaccine to children ages 5 to 11 within weeks.
CONNECTICUT — Officials in Connecticut and around the nation are making preparations to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to children, once final approval is granted at the federal level.
Last week, Pfizer asked the U.S. Food And Drug Administration to green light the use of its two-dose vaccine in children between the ages of 5 to 11. The FDA is scheduled to discuss Pfizer's data at a meeting on Oct. 26, and a shot for kids could be approved as soon as Halloween or early November.
In a private phone call Tuesday, White House officials told governors to prepare for an early November date, according to multiple media sources, including ABC News. Officials are working on which states will receive the first doses, but there reportedly are enough doses to vaccinate all 28 million children in the age 5 to 11 category.
Find out what's happening in Bethelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Groton-based drug manufacturer's COVID-19 vaccine, now marketed as Comirnaty, was approved by the FDA for people 16 years of age and older in August. It is available under emergency use authorization for children age 12 through 15.
A trial that included 2,268 children, and used a two-dose regimen of the vaccine administered 21 days apart, concluded in September. The 10-microgram dose was smaller than the 30-microgram dose that is currently being administered to those 12 and older.
Find out what's happening in Bethelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Potential side effects for the kids' dose is the same as the adult shot, and include soreness at the injection site, fatigue, fever, chills and headache. Allergic reactions are very rare, and easily treatable if they do occur, according to the drugmaker. As with its adult trials, the company plans to make the full dataset from its clinical trial for children available for peer review.
Don't expect any moss to grow beneath Pfizer's feet, as the company said it anticipates releasing data and seeking emergency use authorization for children as young as 6 months old later this year, according to a news release.
The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are still only approved for adults.
Overnight, the reported coronavirus positivity rate in the state fell, as the number of hospitalizations rose.
Out of the 1,500 cases of COVID-19 recorded by the state Department of Public Health in the past seven days, 507, or 33.8 percent, were among people who had already been completely vaccinated.
With 240 cases confirmed overnight, out of 15,747 tests taken, the daily positivity rate reported Wednesday afternoon was 1.52 percent, down nearly a half of a percent in Connecticut since Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, there are 245 residents being treated for the virus inside Connecticut hospitals, up 11 beds. Of those, 182, or 74.3 percent, have not been fully vaccinated.
Most of those hospitalized (70) are in New Haven County.
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