Fresno County to begin vaccinating children 12 and up, amid CDC’s new COVID advice on masks
Fresno County will immediately begin offering COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer for children as young as 12, health officials said on Thursday.
County health officials said they were waiting for the approval of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and California Department of Public Health before administering them locally.
Fresno County has distributed 674,000 doses of vaccines, according to Joe Prado, the county community health division manager.
“The state has approved it so any 12- to 15-year-olds can get vaccinated in Fresno County,” he said. “And there’s a lot of Pfizer in the community. That is the only vaccine approved for 12 to 17.”
Fresno County has recorded 101,792 cases of COVID-19 and 1,686 related deaths through Wednesday.
County interim Health Officer Rais Vohra stressed that the virus is still around and deadly, and encouraged those hesitant to get a vaccine to get the shot.
“It’s not over. We can still catch COVID,” he said. “We’re all ready to get to the next phase and that depends on everybody getting vaccinated.”
The CDC said Thursday those who have been vaccinated can return to just about any activity they did before the pandemic. Masks would only be required if the vaccinated person entered a building that required a face covering, the CDC said.
Vaccines for children
The Pfizer shots will let kids safely attend camps this summer and help assure a more normal return to classrooms next school year, concluded advisers to the CDC.
Pfizer’s vaccine has been used for months in people 16 and older. Earlier this week the Food and Drug Administration cleared its use for those as young as age 12. The CDC panel concluded the same dose adults use is safe and strongly protective in those 12 to 15 years old, too.
The CDC rapidly accepted its advisers’ recommendation.
A key question: Is it OK to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at the same doctor’s visit as people receive some routine vaccinations? That’s an urgent back-to-school concern especially for the 12- to 15-year-olds, who have missed out on regularly scheduled vaccines during the pandemic.
The CDC until now has recommended not getting other vaccinations within two weeks of a COVID-19 shot, mostly as a precaution so that safety monitors could spot if any unexpected side effects cropped up.
But the CDC said Wednesday it is changing that advice because the COVID-19 vaccines have proven very safe — and that health workers can decide to give another needed vaccine at the same time for people of any age.
“The need for catch-up vaccination in coordination with COVID-19 vaccination is urgent as we plan for safe return to school,” CDC’s Dr. Kate Woodworth told the CDC panel, citing millions of missed doses of vaccines against tetanus, whooping cough and other health threats.
The American Academy of Pediatrics on Wednesday also urged that kids 12 and older get the Pfizer vaccine. The health experts agreed that it’s fine to give more than one vaccine at the same time, especially for kids who are behind on their regular vaccinations.
Side effects
Children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill from COVID-19 but the virus can be fatal, and thousands have been hospitalized. By last month, those ages 12 to 17 were making up slightly more of the nation’s new coronavirus infections than adults over 65 — a group that’s now largely vaccinated.
The two-dose vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was studied in more than 2,000 kids ages 12 to 15. There were no cases of COVID-19 among vaccinated kids compared with 16 in the group given dummy shots. Kids also developed higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than vaccinated adults.
Side effects are the same as adults experience, mostly sore arms and flu-like fever, chills or aches that signal the immune system is revving up.
CDC’s advisers did caution that those temporary shot reactions may be even more common if people get a COVID-19 shot at the same time as another vaccination.
Pfizer is not the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Moderna recently said preliminary results from its study in 12- to 17-year-olds show strong protection and no serious side effects, data the FDA will need to scrutinize.
As for even younger children, both companies have begun tests in youngsters ages 6 months to 11 years. Those studies explore if different doses are needed at the youngest ages. The FDA plans to hold a public meeting next month to debate exactly what evidence is needed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
