White House: Close to 1 million kids have already received the COVID vaccine

Leo Hahn, 11, gets the first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Leo Hahn, 11, gets the first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

About 900,000 children aged 5-11 will have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in their first week of eligibility, the White House says, providing the first glimpse at the pace of the school-aged vaccination campaign.

Final clearance for the shots was granted by federal regulators on Nov. 2, with the first doses to kids beginning in some locations the following day. Now nearly 20,000 pharmacies, clinics and physicians’ offices are administering the doses and the Biden administration estimates that by the end of today, more than 900,000 of the kid doses will have been administered. Additionally about 700,000 first-shot appointments are also scheduled for the coming days.

About 28 million 5- to 11-year-olds are now eligible for the Pfizer vaccine at a dose that’s a third of the amount given to teens and adults. Kids who begin the two-dose regimen by the end of next week will have full vaccine protection by Christmas.

Israel is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5-11 in a meeting of Health Ministry officials later today.

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