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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County has received its first shipment of pediatric doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and could start administering them as early as today or Thursday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
The shipment arrived Tuesday -- the same day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave final approval to the shots for kids age 5-11.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pediatric shots last week, and a CDC advisory committee OK'd them Tuesday morning. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky gave final approval Tuesday afternoon, making the shots immediately available to those age 5-11.
Ferrer said there are 900 providers in the county that are ready to administer the pediatric doses.
``Sites that receive doses today (Tuesday) might be able to start vaccinations as early as (Wednesday) afternoon or Thursday,'' Ferrer told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
She said that while the county received its first shipment of pediatric doses Tuesday, it expects to receive a total of nearly 300,000 doses within the next week to 10 days.
According to Ferrer, there are about 900,000 kids aged 5-11 in the county.
``We don't anticipate scarcity, and we expect that there will be ample vaccines to meet demand,'' she said.
The city of Long Beach, which has its own health department separate from the county, will begin offering the pediatric doses beginning Friday. The city estimated there are 43,900 kids aged 5-11 residing in Long Beach.
While the pediatric shots are a lower dosage than the adult vaccine, the doses must be given on the same schedule -- two shots administered 21 days apart. Ferrer noted that children must have a signed consent form from an adult to receive the shot, and some vaccination sites require them to be accompanied by an adult.
The pediatric shots will be offered under an emergency use authorization, the same authorization given to the Moderna and Johnson &Johnson vaccines, and to the Pfizer vaccine for people age 12-15. Pfizer's vaccine has full federal approval for people aged 16 and up.
According to Ferrer, there have been more than 79,000 COVID cases during the pandemic among children age 5-11 in the county, and one fatality. About 37,000 cases have occurred in kids up to age 4, also with one death, and more than 89,000 cases in those aged 12-17, with five deaths.
``Over the week ending Oct. 10, 12% of L.A. County cases were in children aged 5-11, and children in this age group comprise 9% of the county's population,'' Ferrer said last week.
Despite federal approval of the shots for kids 5-11, students in that age group will not be subject to the Los Angeles Unified School District's student-vaccine mandate. The mandate will continue to apply only to students age 12 and up, requiring them to have at least one dose by Nov. 21 and their second by Dec. 19.
LAUSD officials issued a statement Tuesday saying the vaccine is ``highly encouraged'' for students age 5-11, and the district will begin offering doses to that age through its mobile clinics on Nov. 8, and through its school-based clinics on Nov. 16.
In Los Angeles County, 80% of residents age 12 and older have receive dat least one dose of vaccine, while 72% are fully vaccinated, according to the county. Among the county's overall population of 10.3 million people, including those under age 12 who aren't yet eligible for the shots, 69% have received at least one dose, and 61% are fully vaccinated.
Black residents continue to have the lowest vaccination rates, with just 56% having received at least one dose. That compares with 64% of Latino/a residents, 74% of white residents and 83% of Asians.
Younger Black residents have particularly low vaccination rates, with the youngest age group at 43% with at least one dose.