Kids from six months of age to 5 in Bucks County are one step closer to being able to get COVID-19 vaccines.
The first COVID-19 doses for newborns and preschoolers were approved by regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday under emergency use authorization, clearing the path for vaccinations to start the following week once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, as expected.
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Bucks County Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker said the new vaccine will be available at county-run clinics as soon as next week.
Other vaccination clinics in Bucks County are expected also have the vaccine doses for the youngest children starting as soon as next week.
Federal authorities have been allowing pharmacies and medical providers to preorder doses of the vaccines for the youngest kids in anticipation it would be approved by regulators.
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The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines use for the youngest children comes approximately one and a half years after the vaccines for adults, who have been the most severely affected by the pandemic, first became available in the U.S.
About 18 million children will eligible for the doses.
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“As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said after the regulatory greenlight.
The vaccines for America’s younger kids are smaller doses than the adult-sized versions.
Study data showed the vaccines were effective in stopping many severe cases and are safe.
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The Moderna vaccine was also given FDA approval for use in school-age children and teenagers. For those ages, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been the sole choice.
For more information on vaccination options, click here.
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According to federal data, more than 83 percent of eligible Bucks Countians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 131,000 cases and 1,936 COVID-19 related deaths in Bucks County.
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