The Food and Drug Administration will soon decide whether to authorize the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12-15. When it does, communities across Alaska will have enough doses to start vaccinating children in the age group as soon as possible.
Pfizer recently submitted results to the FDA from its clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in 12-to-15-year-olds. According to Coleman Cutchins, Alaska’s lead clinical pharmacist focusing on COVID-19 testing and vaccination, Moderna may soon submit similar results for its vaccine. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses. Cutchins and Alaska’s public health doctors said they would encourage families to consider vaccinating children as soon as they’re eligible.
Clayton Holland, incoming Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent, spoke to KSRM, “We are obviously not going to be mandating. I think that’s a question that we get quite often. Are you mandating kids or mandating anyone. We are not mandating vaccines. We will certainly make information available to folks so they know where vaccines can be found and where they can get that taken care of. We’re not mandating, but certainly as we have more options for people, I think truly the whole idea is that people have the choice at this point and more and more people having a choice either for their children or for themselves. That, to me, is exciting news.”
With the anticipated rollout of vaccines for youth aged 12-15, Holland was asked if this will affect operations at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, “We are planning to have some changes in our mitigation plan and we’re hopeful that we can either limit the use of mask or maybe change how they’re done based off community. I’m trying to be really careful how to say it cause there’s still so much to do, but I’m going to be optimistic with the vaccines that it continues to go up with the number of vaccines, people being eligible who haven’t and the changing scenario that we can loosen up on the mask restrictions. Our intent is throughout not to have any work stoppage. Not to have any school building closures that we will keep buildings open throughout the year. It will still be based off of if there’s outbreaks at particular schools, similar to what we’re doing now, but I’m optimistic that schools will be open the entire time.”
For more information on the COVID-19, visit http://covidvax.alaska.gov/.
