The Texas Department of State Health Services is preparing for a new state-wide effort to get the COVID-19 vaccine to kids between the ages of 5 and 11.
An FDA advisory panel will meet today and is expected to recommend that vaccine for younger kids. It could then receive emergency use approval by the FDA next week.
Counties across Texas have already ordered pediatric doses of Pfizer's vaccine in anticipation of that decision. "The total amount of pediatric vaccine allocated to Texas is approximately 1.3 million doses. The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program will receive their own allocation and will send doses directly to retail pharmacies across the state," said Texas Department of State Health Services Associate Commissioner Imelda Garcia. "We have about 2.9 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 in Texas".
The 1.3 million doses will be allocated in three phases and will be delivered in the weeks immediately following the FDA's approval. "The vaccine will start shipping out after the emergency use authorization is issued. The first wave of shipments will be delivered to providers within one to five days." Texas will be allowed to request additional pediatric vaccine doses after the first three groups are shipped.
"814 Texas providers in 120 counties will be receiving the Pfizer pediatric vaccine in the first three waves of shipping," Garcia said. Counties or providers that did not initially pre-order doses will have opportunities to place orders after the approval.
Health officials expect the pediatric vaccine to initially be available in hospitals, doctor's office, some pharmacies and schools. "We have many school-based clinics that have already placed their orders," said Garcia. "The vaccine roll out this-go round, we really want to leverage every provider across the state that is eligible to receive this vaccine."
She notes that adding up to 2.9 million more people to the vaccination total in Texas will have a significant impact on herd immunity in the state. "Now that we're adding an additional almost 3-million children to that, it's a really big deal," she said.
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