South Bay Health Officials Ready Plans to Vaccinate Kids When CDC Approves
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Santa Clara County health officials are preparing vaccination sites and undergoing training in anticipation of FDA and CDC approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months.
The FDA's vaccine advisory committee is expected to meet on Feb. 15 to discuss the data collected on the efficacy of the vaccines on children ages six months to 4 years. It's the last age group to get the green light. If the committee recommends the vaccines and the FDA authorizes emergency use, the discussion would go on to the CDC for final approval.
"Most likely we expect that the final approvals will come sometime in the week of Feb. 21," said Santa Clara Valley Medical Center associate chief medical officer Dr. Jennifer Tong.
In the meantime, the county's vaccination sites are being prepared to take in as many as 14,000 children per week. Out of the 28 million children 6 months to 4-years-old nationwide, 100,000 of them live in Santa Clara County.
The sites will have stroller valets, diaper stations, TVs and toys for the observation areas. Health officials are also being trained in pediatric injections.
"We want parents to not experience long wait times and for them to feel like it's a safe, clean environment," Tong said. "It's important for people to come back for the subsequent vaccines or vaccinations."
Melissa Anderson has 5-year-old child who just recently received his COVID-19 vaccinations and a 2-year-old who is the only one in the family who is not yet eligible.
"I am looking forward to it," Anderson said. "I trust the FDA and, more than that, I trust my pediatrician who's reading the stuff from the FDA."
So far, the data on how well the vaccines work on the youngest age group has not yet been made public.
"We have a lot of confidence that they're safe right now but we have to have that confidence also that they're going to work and, right now, we just haven't seen that data," said UC Berkeley professor and infectious disease expert Dr. John Swartzberg.