Half of Adolescents in the U.S. Have At Least One Vaccine Shot

U.S.|Half of the adolescents successful the U.S. person received astatine slightest 1 dose of a coronavirus vaccine, White House says.

• Aug. 27, 2021, 1:13 p.m. ET

Half of the 12 to 17 twelvemonth olds successful the United States person gotten astatine slightest 1 dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the White House’s Covid-19 effect coordinator said connected Friday.

“We person present deed a large milestone successful our effort to vaccinate adolescents,” Jeff Zients, the effect coordinator, said astatine a quality league with the White House Covid-19 Response Team.

The gait of vaccinations has picked up successful caller weeks aft the extremely contagious Delta variant drove a surge successful cases, hospitalizations and deaths astir the country, each of which person reached levels not seen since past winter.

“This is captious advancement arsenic millions of kids caput backmost to school, and successful information the vaccination complaint among adolescents is increasing faster than immoderate different property group,” Mr. Zients said. “And we volition proceed to bash everything we tin to get this radical of adolescents vaccinated.”

Vaccinating adolescents is peculiarly important present that schools are reopening, since children younger than 12 are not yet authorized to person immoderate of the vaccines and inoculating arsenic galore radical astir them arsenic imaginable volition assistance support them safe, said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s quality quality to support our children supra each else, and the champion mode to support them is to get everyone who is eligible vaccinated and situation children who are not yet vaccine eligible with radical who are vaccinated to efficaciously shield them from Covid harm,” Dr. Walensky said, adding that wide vaccination, coupled with measures similar masking and societal distancing, would assistance support children harmless successful a schoolhouse setting.

The Food and Drug Administration first expanded its exigency usage authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to see adolescents successful May, truthful there has not been arsenic overmuch clip for them to get inoculated.

Earlier this week the F.D.A. granted afloat support to Pfizer’s vaccine for radical 16 and older, but it is not yet wide erstwhile specified an approval, which tin marque it easier to enforce vaccine mandates, mightiness beryllium granted for adolescents and younger children.