The vaccination campaign in the U.S seems to be slowing down a bit and the statistics show that so far, only about 4 million children are vaccinated with at least one dose, according to sources. The FDA has authorized the vaccination of children of 12 years or older, and, in the future, younger children will also have this opportunity.
The FDA could authorize vaccination for children under 12 this cold season
The FDA recently declared that they are working for emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for younger children under 12 years old, sources write. BionTech and Moderna are working on the clinical trials involving younger children, and the results could be ready by October. This is excellent news for health providers and researchers who believe that the only solution to stop the COVID-19 pandemic is vaccination.
Plenty of families remain hesitant
A recent analysis shows that many states in the North are doing well with the vaccination campaign of children, but the Southern states have low vaccination rates. Examples of states with a high vaccination rate among children are Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maryland. At the other end, Southern states such as Mississippi, Louisiana and more have low vaccination rates. The reason behind the low vaccination rates is the fact that parents are still hesitant. There are parents who are fully vaccinated but remain unsure if they should allow their children to do the same. Meanwhile, the CDC reports that the Delta strain has become dominant in the U.S and that it has a much higher transmissibility rate compared to other variants. Local authorities have a lot on their plates because they need to decide new restrictions for when children return to school. Some are thinking about making masks mandatory indoors and in crowded places.
