Nearly 10 Percent of Younger Children Got One Vaccine Dose, Says White House

Politics|The White House estimates astir 10 percent of younger children person gotten a archetypal shot.

• Nov. 17, 2021, 1:45 p.m. ET

The gait of vaccination against the coronavirus among recently eligible younger children is accelerating, and astir 10 percent of the nation’s 5- to 11-year olds person already had their archetypal shot, the White House estimated connected Wednesday.

Last week alone, 1.7 cardinal young children were vaccinated, astir treble the erstwhile week, Jeff Zients, President Biden’s coronavirus effect coordinator, said astatine a White House Covid-19 briefing. The medication estimates that by the extremity of Wednesday, 2.6 cardinal of the 28 cardinal children successful that property radical volition person had their archetypal of 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the lone 1 presently authorized for them.

“Just 10 days into our programme being successful afloat strength, we’re astatine 10 percent of kids,” Mr. Zients said. “For perspective, it took astir 50 days for america to scope 10 percent of adults with 1 shot. And erstwhile the polio vaccine was archetypal rolled retired for kids successful the 1950s it took astir 3 months to transverse 2 and a fractional cardinal shots successful arms.”

The pediatric figures travel arsenic the federation is astir to transverse different vaccination threshold: Nearly 80 percent of Americans aged 12 and older person had their archetypal shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The fig suggests dilatory but dependable acceptance of the vaccine. This past summer, President Biden failed to conscionable his extremity of having 70 percent of U.S. adults person astatine slightest 1 dose by the July 4 holiday.

Studies and real-world grounds amusement that coronavirus vaccines are highly effectual astatine preventing hospitalization and decease from Covid-19. During Wednesday’s briefing, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Biden’s apical aesculapian advisor for the pandemic, shared a descent platform showing information from states including Texas and Indiana to marque that point.

In Texas, Dr. Fauci said, unvaccinated radical were 13 times much apt than afloat vaccinated radical to go infected with the coronavirus during the period of September, and 20 times much apt to dice of Covid-19. In Indiana, during the week that began connected Sept. 30, 1,447 radical were hospitalized with Covid-19; astir 10 were afloat vaccinated. Of 219 who died, less than 15 were afloat vaccinated.