Children can be vaccinated locally against COVID-19.
On Nov. 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Director Rochelle P. Walensky endorsed a Food and Drug Administration panel’s unanimous recommendation to authorize the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, for children ages 5 to 11.
The vaccine was previously approved for adults and adolescents 12 and over.
Only two locations in the Verde Valley are currently administering the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11 as of press time: The Yavapai County Community Health Services office in Cottonwood, call 771-3122 to schedule an appointment; and Phoenix Children’s Pediatrics office at 800 Cove Pkwy. in Cottonwood, call 649-3003.
According to the CDC, “children ages 5 through 11 years receive an age-appropriate dose that is one-third of the adult dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Smaller needles, designed specifically for children, are also used.”
The smaller dose and the demands of shipping and safe handling have limited the number of providers offering the vaccine to younger children for now.
“Other providers, including Spectrum Healthcare and possibly some of our pharmacies may be providing it soon,” YCCHS Director Leslie Horton wrote in an email. “The reason more providers are not carrying it is because initial shipments only came in doses of 300 and had to be used within 10 weeks and have strict handling requirements. We are told that there will be smaller orders of 100 available soon, and more providers might be interested in taking on the provision of the vaccine.”
As with the adult vaccine, children should get their second shot three weeks after the first dose, according to the CDC.
Don Herrington, the interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, recommended that parents get their children vaccinated for COVID, noting that, “severe illness, hospitalization and death are indeed rare among children, but there are cases in which otherwise healthy kids get extremely sick. Sadly, 40 individuals under the age of 20 have died of COVID-19 in Arizona this year, while nearly 3,000 younger than 20 have been hospitalized. In rare cases, children infected with COVID-19 have developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a potentially deadly condition that can be treated.”
The state dashboard lists ages 0 to 20, but does not break down the ages of cases or deaths more narrowly.
Herrington added that “children are effective spreaders of disease to each other and to people who are more vulnerable, including higher-risk youth and adults who either aren’t vaccinated or could develop a rare breakthrough case of COVID-19.”
Adding the 600,000 Arizonans in the 5 to 11 age group to the number of vaccinated people in the state could “move Arizona even closer to herd immunity against COVID-19,” Herrington wrote.
Vaccine Bump in Yavapai
Since late October, Yavapai County has seen an increase in vaccinations, adding 12,349 does in the 18 days after Oct. 20. That’s roughly the same number of doses administered in the prior two months.
But still, Yavapai County’s vaccination rate is still well below the state average. As of Monday, Nov. 8, 53.1% of eligible people in Yavapai County were vaccinated, compared to the overall state rate of 70.2% of eligible people.
The state and county lingered in the CDC’s high community transmission range throughout the fall, after achieving lower transmission over the summer. In the third week of October, the ADHS data showed daily cases finally beginning to drop in Yavapai County, but cases started accelerating at the end of the month. The county is currently experiencing a spike in positive cases and hospitalizations.
On Nov. 8, YCCHS reported 64 COVID-patients at the two Yavapai Regional Medical Center campuses in Prescott and Prescott Valley and 26 at Verde Valley Medical Center. Over the past weekend, the county reported 283 new cases and seven deaths.
“We were apprehensively encouraged in mid-October when we noticed that numbers were decreasing,” Horton wrote. “We finally had a point of less than 100 per day. Based on the spread that we experienced last year during the holidays, I had a feeling that reduction in cases would be short-lived. And it was.
“At this point, I would like to think that numbers will slow, but from past experience, I have to assume that the numbers may continue to increase or surge through the holidays until mid to late January.”
Asked what message she would like to get out to the public in Yavapai County at this time, Horton wrote, “Quarantine and isolation periods, although inconvenient, can slow and even stop the spread of COVID-19. Wearing a mask in indoor public places can reduce your risk of spreading COVID-19 as well as your risk of acquiring it.”
She concluded by emphasizing that COVID vaccines can keep people healthy throughout the holidays.
“Currently, and since May, 87% of our new cases and 87% of our hospitalizations are in unvaccinated individuals. If you would like to stay healthy and avoid COVID-19 infection during the holiday season, get vaccinated. It will not only help you to avoid quarantines after an exposure and reduce your risk of getting sick from COVID, but may help save your life. Go to vaccines.gov to find a vaccine provider near you.
“I hope that everyone can have a safe and healthy holiday season.”
