Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday said state officials are preparing for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 pending expected federal approval for the shots in the near future.
State officials have ordered an initial 180,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children in this age group, which will be distributed to pediatricians, pharmacies, school systems and local health departments, Mr. Hogan said.
“There will be a wide range of options for getting children vaccinated and we will be providing additional updates to make sure that parents have all the information that they need,” said Mr. Hogan.
About 515,000 Maryland children will become eligible for COVID-19 shots if federal regulators approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, according to the Republican governor.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss Pfizer’s request to authorize the shots for children ages 5 to 11. Pfizer’s data from a clinical trial shows that its vaccine was 90.7% effective at protecting against symptomatic COVID-19 for this age group.
