Washington Approves Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids 5-11

WASHINGTON — Pharmacies are gearing up for the next wave of vaccinations, as Washington state has given doctors its final approval to begin administering "child-size" doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 to children ages 5-11.

Following approval from the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday gave the vaccine its go-ahead — as did the Western States Scientific Safety Advisory Group, who, in a letter to governors across the west coast, confirmed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in younger patients.

"The Workgroup carefully assessed the safety data for the vaccine, including the absence of any severe adverse events among vaccine recipients in the clinical trial," the letter reads. "Reactions were mild, self-limited, similar to those seen in adolescents and adults and with other vaccines routinely recommended for children and were less common in those ages 5-11 years than in those 16-25 years."

In a statement Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee called the news a "sigh of relief" for schools, saying he hoped parents would seek out vaccination to cut down on COVID-19 transmission in K-12 education.

“Parents can breathe a sigh of relief that their younger kids can now be vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus," the governor said. "This gets us a step closer to having the entire population of Washington eligible for the vaccine. And a step closer to finding our way out of this pandemic."

Now that it is approved, the vaccine — which is about one third the dose given to older children and adults — can be administered in two doses, three weeks apart. As the Associated Press notes, that means children who get vaccinated before Thanksgiving can be covered by Christmas.

Major pharmacy giants are already preparing to inoculate kids: CVS announced early Wednesday that it was now accepting vaccination appointments at 1,700 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide — including six in Washington — starting this Sunday. The same is true of Walgreens, which is promising appointments at "select locations" for children age 5-11 beginning Saturday.

Of course, while those two chains are among the first to set up appointments for younger kids, many more are likely to follow. Last week, Washington state health leaders confirmed that the Evergreen State had been allocated 230,000 child doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the federal government, and 86,000 more through the federal pharmacy program.

There are roughly 680,000 children in Washington who are newly eligible for vaccination, but DOH estimates show only about 30 percent of their families are likely to seek vaccination right away. Many of those doses will be delivered through health care providers and pharmacies, but local schools are also expected to host vaccine clinics for younger kids as well.

"Many of them have been offering clinics already for their older students this school year or last school year, or both" said Lacey Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary of the COVID-19 response. "Just like every other group that's been eligible it is our goal to vaccinate these five to eleven-year-olds as quickly and equitably as possible, that is our path out of this pandemic."