Walmart, Sam's Club, CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens will begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 pediatric vaccine to eligible children ages 5 to 11 from this weekend upon receipt and confirmation of vaccine supply at the locations. However, this will require parental or legal guardian consent and children must be accompanied by an adult.
This follows the authorization of the vaccine by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based on guidance from the organization's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization.
Parents or legal guardians are strongly encouraged to schedule an appointment at the respective locations as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine for children in this age group.
The Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine is only one-third of the adult dose and requires two doses, administered three weeks apart, for the child to be fully vaccinated.
Many parents have been eagerly waiting to get their kids also vaccinated as COVID-19 variants continue to emerge, with children being at high risk to contract and spread COVID-19 and experience more severe symptoms. It is all the more important at this time as many families prepare to travel and gather for the holidays.
The FDA and CDC have carefully evaluated the safety and effectiveness data, and after a thorough review, based on strict safety and efficacy standards, they determined the vaccine is safe for children aged 5-11, at one-third of the dose used for adolescents and adults.
Walmart and Sam's Club will administer the Pfizer vaccine to eligible children ages 5 to 11 in more than 5,100 pharmacies across the U.S. It will also be available at nearly 1,700 CVS Pharmacy locations in 46 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.
Walgreens will administer the pediatric vaccine at thousands of select Walgreens locations. About 40 percent of Walgreens stores offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11 are located in areas with a high Social Vulnerability Index score.
CVS Health has administered approximately 43 million COVID-19 vaccines to date and has been administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 12 years and older. Parents were to accompany children ages five to 15 years of age also.
CVS Health is also administering third doses to immunocompromised patients and booster shots to eligible populations. It has also administered about 38 million COVID-19 tests across the country to date.
Walgreens pharmacy team members have administered approximately 45 million COVID-19 vaccinations to date.
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