After the Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination for children 12 years of age and older, parents are hoping that the move will help to keep more children safe and move the nation past the coronavirus pandemic.
According to data reviewed by the FDA from clinical trials involving more than 2,200 children, the two-shot Pfizer treatment was found to be highly-effective in preventing COVID-19 infections.
The move could pave the way for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to formally recommend the Pfizer vaccine for children, a move that many parents will welcome.
“We’re ready to kind of get on with our lives and do the next thing, and so we’re ready to get the kids vaccinated as soon as we could get them signed up,” Emily Lobdell, whose children play several sports, said.
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Lobdell is mom to 14-year-old twins and a soon-to-be 12-year-old, and says she intends to get all three vaccinated against the virus.
She is not alone. Roughly 30% of parents say they will get their children vaccinated as soon as possible. There are still plenty of parents who say they aren’t yet ready to sign their children up for appointments, with 25% saying they aren’t ready, and another 25% say they definitely will not have their children get the vaccine.
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Still, online sign-ups were fast and furious after the FDA issued the EUA Monday, filling up more than 1,600 time slots on at least one COVID vaccination drive for children 12 years of age and up.
“We’re excited for the whole family to be vaccinated, and to take that step towards hopefully protecting ourselves and being able to do a few more things that we did before the pandemic,” soccer coach Daryl Wooldridge said.
Wooldridge, says that masking and social distancing will continue even after children get vaccinated, but the shots will provide an extra sense of security.
“When we continue to have more vaccinations, then hopefully we’ll be more free to do more things,” he said.
