LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued an executive directive to state departments and agencies to expedite the ordering and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 to 11 years old in Michigan.
The goal is to protect this age group from the virus and ensure students can continue in-person learning in a safe environment this year, according to a news release Tuesday.
“Today, we’re taking action to keep our kids safe from COVID-19,” Whitmer said. “The Michigan-made Pfizer vaccine is safe, effective, free and expected to be approved for Michiganders between 5 and 11 years old. This is a game-changer for our kids that will protect them as they continue to learn in-person in the classroom this school year, participate in extracurricular activities or see friends and family this holiday season. My directive today ensures equitable, expedited distribution of the vaccines. Parents should sign up to protect their kids.”
An FDA advisory committee is meeting Tuesday to discuss emergency use authorization of the vaccine for children 5 to 11.
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After this meeting, the committee will issue their recommendation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is scheduled to meet Nov. 2-3 to review data and recommendations.
Data from Pfizer showed the vaccine was about 91% effective during a trial at preventing symptomatic disease from COVID-19 in the age group.
“Being able to vaccinate children ages 5-11 with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine brings us hope and also an opportunity to urge all eligible Michiganders to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, MDHHS chief medical executive. “We know these vaccines work. Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic, and now 825,000 children in our state are now eligible to be protected.”
Whitmer’s executive directive expedites pediatric vaccine administration by:
- Requiring the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to take all appropriate action to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccination is available to all children in Michigan as soon as they are eligible to receive the vaccine
- Encouraging all pediatric vaccination providers to enroll as COVID-19 vaccine providers, including by educating pediatricians and family practice providers about eligibility, barriers to access and the importance of pediatric vaccination
- Promoting vaccination in settings that facilitate ease of access, including by working with child and adolescent health centers serving grades K-12, federal qualified health centers, pharmacies, local health departments and community clinics
- Promoting equity in accessibility of pediatric vaccination, considering barriers to access presented by geography, income, age, race, ethnicity, primary language or disability status
The directive also requires the state to regularly report the proportion of children 5 to 11 who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
State officials have pre-ordered 287,700 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric coronavirus vaccine to ensure supply is quickly available when approval is granted.