COVID vaccine eligibility lowered to age twelve
Local 12-15-year-olds will have an opportunity to get their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination event set for May 21 and sponsored by Northern Louisiana Medical Center.
Vaccinations will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. that day at the hospital. Youths under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, Tami Davis, NLMC’s marketing director, said Thursday.
Parents or guardians will also have to fill out a consent form for children younger than age 18 to get the shots. The forms can be found on the hospital’s website, nothernlouisianamedicalcenter.com, or their Facebook page.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday formally recommended and authorized use of the Pfizer-BioN Tech COVID-19 vaccine for people as young as age 12.
Heretofore, 16-year-olds were the youngest residents eligible for the two-dose series.
“We have the utmost confidence in the Food and Drug Administration’s and CDC’s rigorous safety and efficacy review and, after looking at the data ourselves, are excited to now expand eligibility for more young people in Louisiana,” Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s top health officer, said in press release issued Thursday. “Today is a good day, and it means more families have the ability to protect their children and their families and enjoy summer with confidence.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards joined state and national health officials and the American Academy of Pediatrics in urging young people, their parents, and all adults to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available to them.
“As a parent, I know that decisions regarding the health of our children are among the most important ones we make. I hope all parents of adolescents will consider protecting their children with the COVID-19 vaccine and, if they have questions, that they ask their child’s pediatrician or another trusted medical professional,” Edwards said in a prepared statement. “Today we enter a new phase in our fight to slow the spread of COVID-19, with the expansion of the Pfizer vaccine to 12-15-year-olds.”
