Spread the Word (and Offer to Help): Kids as Young as 12 Can Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

The past few weeks have seen a jump in the number of Americans who are able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. While it’s still up to individual states to determine who is eligible, from a regulatory approval standpoint that population should soon include anyone 12 years of age and up thanks to an Emergency Use Authorization granted to the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine. All that’s left is for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give its stamp of approval, which could come as early as this week. The move represents a bold step forward in efforts to minimize risk to as many people as possible, continue progress in opening up the economy, and bolstering the prospects that the next school year might begin more closely to “normal” than has been possible for nearly a year and a half. And if it needs to be said, this also means that urgent care operators who are able to secure vaccines could have the opportunity to welcome in more patients (at $40 a shot, thanks to recent developments already reported in JUCM News). The manufacturers announced in March that research showed this vaccine to be 100% effective in a clinical trial of more than 2,000 adolescents. Broadening the eligible population to include children younger than 12 isn’t expected to occur until early next year.