INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Last Wednesday, Indiana announced its goal to vaccinate at least 200,000 children ages 5 to 11 as the federal government approves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
As part of a new chapter in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver expected the state to receive over 200,000 does, enough to vaccinate 600,000 children, half of Indiana’s vaccination estimate for children vaccination.
Indiana released the announcement the day after the US Food and Drug Administration endorsed the COVID-19 vaccine for children. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect to approve the vaccine by the end of the week.
According to Dr. Weaver, “We will be prepped and ready to start it as soon as the CDC gives its approval.” Dr. Weaver expects that the first round would be sufficient for all children who applied for the vaccine.
State health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box confirms Dr. Weaver’s estimation by stating that the state health officials would experience no problem during the vaccination rollout. Indiana can always order more vaccines if the state’s estimation increases.
Currently, there are over 1,300 vaccination sites across the 92 Indiana counties. The Indiana Department of Health also announced its intention to open vaccination and testing clinics outside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compensate for the expected number of children getting the vaccine.
Indiana managed to administer 7 million vaccine doses; at least 57% of the number represents those fully vaccinated already.
