Children under 5 years old could begin to receive vaccinations against COVID-19 as early as June 21, a Biden administration official said Thursday, in a boost for parents anxious for their very young children to be added to the program.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID response coordinator, told reporters at a briefing: “We expect that vaccinations will begin in earnest as early as Tuesday, June 21, and really roll on throughout that week,” if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the vaccines.
“Our expectation is that, within weeks, every parent who wants their child to get vaccinated would be able to get an appointment,” he said.
An FDA advisory panel is scheduled to meet June 15 to discuss the vaccines made by Pfizer
PFE,
with BioNTech
BNTX,
as well as Moderna
MRNA,
The news comes as U.S. cases seem to be stabilizing again after a steady climb caused by omicron and its subvariants. The U.S. is averaging 101,348 cases a day, down 3% from two weeks ago, according to a New York Times tracker. Cases are stabilizing in states in the Northeast that were recent hot spots, although there are concerns that the predominance of home testing may be distorting the numbers as those results are not being collected by data aggregators.
The country is averaging 27,243 hospitalizations a day, up 14% from two weeks ago. The daily death toll has fallen to 281 on average, down 7% from two weeks ago.
The World Health Organization said…
