White House faces uphill challenge getting kids under 5 vaccinated
by Nathaniel Weixel - 06/12/22 5:40 PM ET
The Biden administration faces an uphill battle to convince parents to give COVID-19 shots to children under 5 years old.
More than a year and a half after the first vaccines were authorized for adults, federal regulators and outside advisory panels will finally meet on Wednesday to examine data from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech about their shots’ effectiveness in the youngest children.
If all goes well and the vaccines get authorized, the administration is planning a massive public education campaign to help make sure parents can have their questions answered and learn about the importance of getting their children vaccinated.
Officials have outlined a plan that includes partnering with the online What to Expect community, as well as a range of national organizations, including a “speaker’s bureau” of pediatricians and family physicians who will be able to answer questions about the shots at community events.
Vaccines will be distributed across thousands of different sites, but the administration will focus on front-line providers including pediatricians and primary care doctors, as that is where they expect many families will want to go.
“Our lessons from the past have taught us that in addition to us speaking directly to the public, that our partnerships — partnerships we built over the last 18 months — are going to be critical here — partnerships with doctors and nurses, with faith leaders, with educators, and with community organizations across the country,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said.
Children under 5 are the last group eligible to be vaccinated, and there are about 18 million of them who would become eligible. But infectious disease experts think it’s an open question just how strong demand will be.
more
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3519530-white-house-faces-uphill-challenge-getting-kids-under-5-vaccinated/
