The White House presented the federal government’s plans for making the first COVID-19 vaccinations available to very young children.
Children younger than 5 years old could be vaccinated with COVID-19 right after the Juneteenth holiday.
On Thursday, Dr. Ashish Jha (White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator) stated that if the Food and Drug Administration approves vaccines for children under age 15, shipments of the first 10,000,000 doses could begin arriving at doctors’ offices the next weekend.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisors would also need to weigh in. Before vaccination could begin, Dr. Rochelle Wilensky, director of the CDC, would need to approve.
Jha stated that “we expect that vaccinations will start in earnest as soon as June 21 and continue throughout the week.”
Jha stated that parents who want to vaccinate their child (6 months or older) as well as toddlers and other children younger than five years could do so in a matter of weeks once the shots are available.
This timeline is consistent in past FDA and CDC decisions on COVID-19 vaccinations.
