Michiganders ages 5-11 can get COVID-19 vaccine

(The Center Square) – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) urged Michigan parents to vaccinate their children ages 5 to 11 with Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization of the vaccine for this age group. Emergency use authorization was recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

“Being able to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine brings us hope and also an additional opportunity to urge all eligible Michiganders to get vaccinated,” MDHHS Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said in a statement. “We know these vaccines work and protect our children and their families. Even healthy children can suffer serious affects [sic] from COVID-19. The vaccines remain our way out of the pandemic, and more than 825,000 more children in our state are now eligible.”

As of November 2, Michigan counts 20 COVID-19 deaths in those between the ages of 10 years old to 19 years old.

“It is important to get children ages five and up vaccinated as quickly as possible to save even more lives and reduce serious illness,” MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement. “Getting the safe and effective vaccines are an effort that every eligible Michigander can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, and to help end this pandemic. Working together we can help some of our youngest Michiganders get back to more normal activities with friends, sports teams, classmates and more.”

Pfizer-provided data says the vaccine was nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic disease from COVID-19 in this age group. The pediatric formulation of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is administered as a series of two doses, 21 days apart, at one-third of the adult dosage.

Clinical trial participants demonstrated a robust immune response one month after the second dose. The most commonly reported side effects, typically lasting one to three days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever, and joint pain. Children reported these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose.

More than 825,000 Michigan children will now be eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. MDHHS has ordered 287,700 doses for the initial rollout, which is the full allocation provided by CDC for the launch of vaccination efforts. Vaccines will be available immediately beginning Nov. 3, and parents can find a vaccine by visiting Vaccines.gov or by calling 211.

MDHHS says vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19. To date, more than 42% of children ages 12 to 15 have received their first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose.

FDA and CDC data show that children 5 years to 11 years of age account for approximately 9% of COVID-19 cases in the United States overall. COVID-19 has hospitalized 8,300 kids between the ages of 5 years and 11 years, contributed to the deaths of 146 children, and has caused more than 5,000 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Disorder, the FDA says.

From January to October, unvaccinated Michiganders accounted for 93.1% of COVID cases, 90.7% of hospitalizations, and 90.5% of deaths.

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