Iowa will get more than 99,000 COVID vaccines for kids 5-11 this week
Federal regulators approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 Tuesday night and Iowa vaccinators said are already taking appointments.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the emergency use authorization Tuesday just hours after an advisory panel unanimously recommended its approval.
Iowa state health officials previously said they expected as many as 99,000 doses for children this week, though that doesn't count doses shipped directly to pharmacies. There are about 284,000 Iowa children in the 5-11 age range.
The pediatric dose is a third the amount that adults receive, but studies show it still creates a robust immune response, Iowa doctors said recently. Like adults', the pediatric dose will be delivered in two shots delivered three weeks apart.
More: The FDA just approved COVID vaccines for kids. Iowa parents, here's what you should know
Iowa Department of Public Health spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand advised parents to contact their children's typical vaccine providers, such as pediatricians, family medical clinics or local public health departments about scheduling the vaccine.
When will Hy-Vee offer vaccine for kids?
Hy-Vee, the largest pharmacy chain in Iowa, opened its online appointment scheduler for kids, spokesperson Christina Gayman said. The vaccine for children, like all COVID-19 vaccines, will be free. Once approved, appointments can be made at hy-vee.com/covidvaccine. She warned there may be limited supplies initially.
The Polk County Health Department will start vaccinating children Thursday, and it will have the Pfizer vaccine available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays going forward. Patients must register ahead of time at immunizepolk.com.
MercyOne will offer pediatric doses at its vaccine clinic on Saturday at its MercyOne Urbandale Internal Medicine Clinic facility. It's open to anyone who's eligible for the vaccine, including people who aren't typical MercyOne patients, but they must register in advance at https://phreesia.me/FluCovidVaccine.
Walgreens and CVS accepting appointments for children 5-11
The country's largest pharmacies, Walgreens and CVS, are accepting vaccine appointments for children 5 to 11, USA TODAY was reporting.
CVS will begin administering the vaccine Sunday, according to USA TODAY, while Walgreens will begin administering the pediatric doses at thousands of stores nationwide starting Saturday.
Will there be a vaccine shortage?
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zientz said at a Monday briefing that there is enough vaccine for all 28 million children in the United States, with the federal vaccination program at "full strength" starting next week.
"We know vaccines are the very best tool we have to accelerate our path out of the pandemic," Zients said at the briefing, according to a transcript provided by the White House. "And we’re hard at working — at executing across a number of fronts, from vaccinating the unvaccinated, to getting booster shots to tens of millions of eligible Americans, to standing up our vaccination program for kids ages 5 through 11."
Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: COVID-19 vaccine for Iowa kids 5-11 available soon after CDC approval
