The next stage of COVID vaccination begins for children 5-11 in California

The next chapter in Push to Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Rate began Wednesday when children aged 5-11 began rolling their sleeves. This is a long-awaited new phase of the vaccination campaign that authorities hope to help California stop another feared coronavirus surge. During the winter.

The day after federal health officials gave the long-awaited blessing to the increased use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children, some parents flocked to clinics and hospitals with young people.

However, it takes time to find out how quickly this age group is inoculated and how reluctant or resistant some parents are. Throughout the state, 3.5 million additional children were targeted for the shot.

The Los Angeles Unified School District does not require students ages 5-11 to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, but shots are available on various campuses. If a parent wants to vaccinate their child. In contrast, LAUSD and several other California school districts require older students to stay on campus during the semester starting in January. In Los Angeles, public school students must be vaccinated by January 10.

Governor Gavin Newsom last month Presentation The state-wide COVID-19 vaccine is mandatory for school children, but the first phase of the plan will not be effective for children over the age of 12 until next summer or more than a year from now. Unlike LA Unified, state obligations provide exemptions for parents who disagree with their child’s vaccination obligations.

Authorities said there would be many doses available for children. California was initially assigned 1.2 million doses to new children targeted for shooting. Already 860,000 have been distributed throughout the state.

“We don’t anticipate a shortage, and we expect enough vaccines to meet demand,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health at LA County.

The promotion of new vaccines will occur as the holiday season approaches and California’s COVID-19 numbers have leveled off after a few months of decline. In recent weeks, COVID-19 hospitalizations have stopped declining in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, and have increased by 11% in San Diego county and 20% in San Bernardino county since mid-October.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Riverside County have increased by 27% in the last 10 days.

California health officials The fifth wave of the pandemic As the cold climate begins and people spend more time indoors. Although vaccination levels in California are relatively high compared to other states, they are still too low to prevent a substantial risk of infection.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the vaccine deployment took place on the same day the pandemic crossed another catastrophic milestone. 750,000 people have died in COVID-19 nationwide.

Authorities hope that a combination of vaccinations for children and booster shots for adults can boost immunity.

Vaccine clinical trials Effective rate of almost 91% Prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in previously uninfected children aged 5 to 11 years.

During the recent surge, children across the country were at high risk of hospitalization. In the six weeks ending in mid-August, COVID-19 hospitalizations for children and adolescents increased five-fold, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a briefing Wednesday.

New research Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US government infectious disease expert, showed on Wednesday that children and adults are equally vulnerable to coronavirus infection. Infected children are still less likely to have a visible illness than adults. Half of infected children aged 5 to 11 years may be asymptomatic.

Previously, the original idea was that infected children were particularly unlikely to infect their parents and classmates with the virus. However, it is becoming clear that infected children can also transmit the virus to family and school people, Forch said. Vaccination reduces the chance of coronavirus infection.

The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, a coalition of public health experts in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, gave a green light to vaccines Wednesday morning and officially clarified how to distribute vaccines in California. The move came after CDC director Warrensky recommended that more than 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 be shot at the end of Tuesday.

“The increased eligibility of this life-saving vaccine will bring us closer to the end of the pandemic,” Newsom said in a statement.

By the afternoon, the county vaccination sites at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital and Eugene A. Obregon Park in East Los Angeles had already vaccinated the arms of children aged 5 to 11 years. LA County Public Health Service Website, vaccinatelacounty.comHas launched a list of clinics offering Pfizer-BioNTech shots for toddlers.

Santa Clara County, the most populous county in Northern California, has also begun vaccination of young people in clinics.That’s why Lady Children’s Hospital In San Diego.

Kaiser Permanente was set up to immunize infants in Orange County on the same Thursday that public clinics run by San Bernardino and Ventura counties were ready to accept their children. Vaccine clinics run by Riverside County and Long Beach will be ready later this week.

California Vaccination Website, myturn.ca.gov, We started offering age group reservations on Wednesday night. Some national pharmacy chains have begun accepting reservations, and Walgreens has announced that it will begin managing shots on Saturday and CVS on Sunday.

On Wednesday, some parents in the San Francisco Bay Area reported struggling to book an appointment for their child.

In the first week of deployment, Feller suggested that parents and guardians call in advance to ensure that the location is stocked with child-sized doses.At least there was One parent A person arriving at a Los Angeles County clinic on Wednesday morning advertised that he had a shot, but was told that the dose was not yet available.

Vaccines of this age group are specially prescribed, come in vials with an orange cap, and are given using a small needle that is one-third the size of the vaccine given to people over the age of 12. increase. Pfizer-BioNTech doses for older recipients are in separate vials with a purple cap and are not suitable for younger children.

An estimated 900,000 new children will be vaccinated in LA County. The county expects to ship nearly 300,000 doses over the next 10 days, and eventually 900 sites across the county will provide shots for this age group.

A mobile vaccination team will also be dispatched. Authorities are planning 480 school-based vaccination clinics in the poorest areas this month.

Vaccination is given in a set of two doses, which are given at 3-week intervals. People are considered fully protected 2 weeks after the final dose. This means that children who start the vaccination series by mid-November will be fully protected by Christmas.

Vaccinations are free, recipients do not have to be US citizens and do not need to have health insurance.

Starting Monday, the LA Unified School District will deploy a mobile vaccination team for young students. Starting November 16th, 13 school-based clinics will provide vaccines. Some clinics provide vaccines on Saturdays.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and is the best way to protect students, staff and families. Public schools are a natural place for students and families to get this life-saving vaccine. “The district says.

LA Unified Mission for Students 12+ Started kicking in This week, we needed to make sure that high school students in team sports received both a two-shot regimen with a band and a drill.

Approximately 77% of eligible students on these teams were compliant.A few Some school teams were hit hard Suddenly by an ineligible student.

Westside University High had to confiscate the City Section Division II Semifinal Women’s Tennis match against Hamilton High due to insufficient vaccinated players. Esteban Torres High in East Los Angeles withdrew from a football playoff game with New Design Charter School on Friday — Watt for the same issue. At Woodland Hills Tuft High, authorities have given more than 100 students a letter warning them of all sports that they are no longer allowed to play in the team and explaining their well-publicized mission.

Districts have traditionally refused to publish figures about how individual teams are affected at each school. However, the coach has these data from the school and knows who to draw from the game or practice or whether the game can continue.

Times staff writer Eric Sondeheimer contributed to this report.