An expert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday that it is okay to get the coronavirus vaccine along with other vaccines, a great help for children and adolescents who are behind with your regular vaccinations.
Doctors and other clinical staff were previously advised to avoid giving the coronavirus vaccine within two weeks of any other vaccines. But Dr. Kate Woodworth, of the CDC’s division of birth defects, said Wednesday that the advice has now changed, saying there is substantial data on the safety of vaccines.
“Extensive experience with non-covid-19 vaccines has shown that immunogenicity or the ability of a vaccine to elicit an immune response and adverse event profiles are generally similar when vaccines are given simultaneously as when they are given alone,” Woodworth told a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
He said clinical considerations are being updated to say that the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines can be given “no matter the time,” even on the same day.
The change is important because many children have fallen behind on their regular vaccinations, as the pandemic canceled many non-emergency medical checkups. The two-week delay threatened to add another hurdle to protecting people against Covid-19, as well as other diseases like influenza, tetanus, and HPV.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also said Wednesday that it supports routine childhood vaccinations alongside coronavirus vaccines.
After a discussion among ACIP members about concerns that people might not fully understand the advice, the CDC added some language to its guidance to make it clear that the agency does not know whether people are more likely to have a reaction if they receive a covid-19 vaccine close in time to other vaccines.
The announcement came shortly before vaccine advisers unanimously voted to recommend the use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in youth ages 12-15. They voted 14-0 to recommend the use of the vaccine, with one challenge.
“This is one more step toward obtaining immunity and bringing us closer to the end of the pandemic,” said Dr. José Romero, who chairs the ACIP and who is also the secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health. “We still have to vaccinate the rest of the world, but we have taken important steps and we are on our way.”
The recommendation comes a day after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to expand the emergency use authorization (US) of Pfizer’s vaccine to people as young as 12 years old. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky approved the recommendations Wednesday.
“Today, I adopted the recommendation of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) supporting the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer / BioNTech covid-19 vaccine and its use in adolescents ages 12 to 15,” Walensky said in a declaration.
“The CDC now recommends that this vaccine be used among this population, and providers can begin vaccinating it immediately,” she added.
Although young people are less likely to be severely affected by COVID-19, they can still become infected and spread to other people. The CDC estimates that more than 22 million children ages 5 to 17 have been infected with coronavirus, CDC’s Dr. Sara Oliver said Wednesday.
CVS announced Wednesday that its pharmacies will begin delivering the Pfizer vaccine Thursday at more than 5,600 locations across the country, according to a company statement.
With so many older people vaccinated, children and adolescents are beginning to account for a higher proportion of coronavirus cases now than before in the epidemic.
“In April, 9% of COVID-19 cases were between the ages of 12 and 17, which actually represents a higher proportion of cases than adults 65 and older,” Oliver said at the ACIP meeting.
About 45% of adults in the United States are fully vaccinated, according to data from the CDC on Wednesday.
But in 15 states, more than half of adult residents are fully vaccinated. Those states are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa.
California will effectively end the mask-wearing mandate next month
The risk of dying from covid-19 is greater than that of clots 0:41
With more and more people getting vaccinated, plans to get back to normal are becoming clearer.
California Governor Gavin Newsom will effectively end mask-wearing mandates next month when the state plans to fully reopen after more than a year of covid-19 restrictions.
In an on-camera interview with KTTV Los Angeles reporter Elex Michaelson and posted on Twitter, the governor was asked, “Will we be seeing masks after June 15?”
“Not. Only in those environments that are indoors, only in those enormously large environments where people from all over the world gather, not just from the country, and when people gather in really dense spaces,” Newsom replied.
“Otherwise, we will make guidance recommendations, but without mandates or restrictions for companies large and small.”
California currently requires the use of masks indoors outside the home, including on public transportation, regardless of vaccination status. However, fully vaccinated people are not required to wear masks outdoors except when attending crowded events.
Last month, state health officials announced the June 15 deadline to fully reopen the state amid falling rates of covid-19 infection and low hospitalizations, setting aside its system of tiers coded by colors dictated by county reopening based on infection rates.
However, California’s mask-wearing mandate would remain in effect at least “for the short term,” Newsom said at the time.
Spokesmen for the governor’s office and the California Department of Public Health did not respond to requests for comment from Citizen Free Press on Wednesday.
About 52% of California’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 89% of those 65 and older, according to CDC data.
After an alarming outbreak in December and January, the state has had a seven-day average of fewer than 2,000 new coronavirus cases a day for the past two weeks.
‘I can go out more instead of staying home and doing nothing’
Although the CDC had not yet fully approved vaccinating children ages 12-15, some places began vaccinating the age group on Tuesday.
Doctors already have the vaccine on hand, and CDC approval is a foregone conclusion. This is an area of medical practice regulated by the states, but because the vaccine is already licensed and in offices, there is little to stop medical professionals from exercising their own judgment.
Jacob Laney, 14, was in line at a Decatur, Georgia, vaccination site early Tuesday in hopes of getting the vaccine early.
“My friend contracted covid and he looked very bad, and I did not want to have it,” he told Citizen Free Press. Once I get both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, “I think I will be less afraid of getting them and less of having problems with COVID-19,” he said.
Cameron Carrion, a 14-year-old whose mother saw Jacob’s interview with Citizen Free Press and then drove to the same vaccination site, said he felt good about getting the vaccine.
“I feel like it’s better to have it because I can go out more instead of staying home and doing nothing,” he said.