Not wasting any time, LA County launches Pfizer vaccines for kids 5-11

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A instrumentality to play is connected its mode for thousands of children successful Southern California, according to Los Angeles County leaders who were connected manus astatine Obregon Park connected Wednesday, Nov. 3, to statesman offering pediatric doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to kids ages 5-11.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pediatric coronavirus shots past week, and a CDC advisory committee OK’d them Tuesday morning. CDC manager Dr. Rochelle Walensky gave last support Tuesday afternoon, making the shots instantly available.

Los Angeles County received its archetypal shipment of the vaccines the aforesaid day, and region officials gathered astatine a section parkland successful East Los Angeles connected Wednesday to people the opening of the vaccination effort for young children.

Not everyone was enthusiastic astir the news. The California section of the Children’s Health Defense enactment agreed astatine Santa Monica Pier to decry vaccination mandates with a protestation march that coincided with the vaccination lawsuit astatine Obregon.

In Los Angeles, children attending Belvedere Middle School and Esteban Torres High School swung extracurricular adjacent the playground portion their younger siblings and friends gathered wrong the park’s halfway to go 1 of the archetypal 5-year-olds to get the shots.

Some Southern California younker could not incorporate their excitement. Others, similar Wren Nagata, had a harder clip convincing his younger sister to articulation him successful receiving a archetypal dose.

Joanna Nagata of Pasadena comforts her 5 year-old girl Mallory Nagata arsenic she receives her vaccine changeable from Jacqueline Valdez during an lawsuit kicking disconnected Coronavirus Vaccinations for Children astatine Eugene A. Obregon Park successful Los Angeles connected Wednesday, November 3, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Joanna Nagata of Pasadena comforts her 5 year-old girl Mallory Nagata arsenic she waits to person her changeable during an lawsuit kicking disconnected Coronavirus Vaccinations for Children astatine Eugene A. Obregon Park successful Los Angeles connected Wednesday, November 3, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

“Now you’re going to beryllium safer,” Pasadena nonmigratory Adam Nagata told his 5-year-old girl astatine the vaccination event.

Less than 10 feet away, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer shared a akin message.

“It’s harmless for each of america — for our children and for our grandchildren — and the vaccines prevention lives,” Ferrer said, speaking from a podium astir the precocious announced approvals.

Wren Nagata agreed successful an interrogation soon aft helium and his sister received their archetypal shot.

The San Rafael Elementary School pupil encouraged everybody to travel person a changeable “because it teaches your assemblage a caller microorganism and that’s important for your life,” helium said.

Nagata besides wanted different seven-year-olds to cognize the vaccine doesn’t hurt.

“Well, it hurts a small — but you tin grip it and you are gonna consciousness bully after,” helium said. “And these are supportive radical and they truly bash enactment you erstwhile you get a shot,” helium added portion others his property played cornhole successful the background.

Joanna Nagata, Wren’s mother, acknowledged the household wasn’t ever truthful anxious to get vaccinated, which is simply a feeling shared by thousands of others successful L.A. County.

“It was a hard decision. But past erstwhile I made the decision, I started to get excited astir what it could mean not conscionable for america — but for our community,” the parent of 3 said.

Ferrer encouraged different families with akin feelings to question proposal from those they trust.

Nagata noted she talked to a person who is an epidemiologist and the household decided Tuesday to caput successful the adjacent time to get vaccinated. “We thought if we were going to bash it adjacent week oregon the week after, past wherefore not conscionable bash it tomorrow?”

Around the region

Ferrer explained Wednesday the region is utilizing a color-coded vial system, “so that nary supplier volition marque a mistake. And arsenic you tin see, we are acceptable up with a pediatric-only presumption astatine each of our sites,” she said from the podium Wednesday.

“We person good implicit 900 providers that are registered to vaccinate children, but we cognize they’re not each up and unfastened today. And we cognize determination are besides immoderate areas wherever we person tons of kids and not arsenic galore providers arsenic we request successful those areas,” Ferrer added.

So the region volition person much than 250 mobile teams dispersed passim the portion starting this week, she said. She estimated 100 providers received vaccines contiguous and different 200 to 300 volition person vaccines by the extremity of the week.

“Sites that person doses contiguous (Tuesday) mightiness beryllium capable to commencement vaccinations arsenic aboriginal arsenic (Wednesday) day oregon Thursday,” Ferrer told the region Board of Supervisors earlier this week.

“And by Monday we should person good implicit 250,000 doses successful the county,” she said Wednesday, encouraging patience from the nationalist arsenic the strategy ramps up.

“We don’t expect scarcity, and we expect that determination volition beryllium ample vaccines to conscionable demand,” she said anterior to the event, noting determination are astir 900,000 kids aged 5-11 successful the county.

Some be Los Angeles Unified School District, which announced Tuesday, Nov. 2, it volition statesman offering COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 5 to 11 adjacent week, though it’s not presently requiring students successful this property radical to get the shots.

“We are delighted to beryllium capable to connection voluntary vaccine entree to students successful this property group,” the nation’s second-largest schoolhouse territory said successful a statement. “The COVID-19 vaccine is highly encouraged for children ages 5-11. However, it volition not beryllium portion of Los Angeles Unified’s existent pupil vaccine requirement.”

The territory volition statesman deploying mobile vaccination teams connected Monday to administer the vaccines to children arsenic young arsenic 5. Then, starting Nov. 16, LAUSD volition person 13 school-based clinics offering the vaccines. The territory volition unfastened the schoolhouse clinics connected prime Saturdays arsenic well. Information is disposable astatine achieve.lausd.net/studentvaccine.

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Superintendent Alex Cherniss said the territory besides intends to clasp vaccinations clinics.

“One successful 2 weeks and 1 successful December,” Cherniss said, mentioning the clinics volition beryllium held astatine a cardinal clinic. As a result, the Beach Cities Health District volition big pop-up clinics starting Nov. 8 astatine Pacific Elementary, helium added, noting 93% of MBUSD students older than 11 are presently vaccinated.

Just south, the metropolis of Long Beach — which has its ain wellness section abstracted from the region — volition statesman offering the pediatric doses Friday. The metropolis estimated determination are 43,900 kids aged 5-11 residing successful Long Beach.

The metropolis of Pasadena besides has its ain wellness section and volition statesman administering the Pfizer vaccines Nov. 8, according to metropolis spokesperson Lisa Derderian.

Initial doses of the pediatric vaccine arrived aboriginal this week and further vaccines person been ordered, Derderian said.

Pasadena Unified School District leaders said successful a connection they are arrogant of the district’s beardown efforts truthful acold successful making COVID-19 vaccinations accessible to employees, eligible students and assemblage members.

Pasadena Unified committee subordinate Tina Fredericks precocious published a petition to sway her peers to travel up with a vaccination program to summation vaccine rates anterior to a imaginable vacation surge.

“The contiguous contented is getting much shots successful arms earlier the holidays erstwhile families — aged and young — from crossed the county, state, state and globe converge,” Fredericks said Wednesday. “November is the calm earlier the storm. There volition beryllium a COVID surge.”

To date, Fredericks and her peers connected the Pasadena Unified schoolhouse committee person yet to hold connected the implementation of a mandate truthful territory leaders aren’t expected to instrumentality enactment similar their neighbors successful the Alhambra Unified School District.

Alhambra Unified enactment 51 unvaccinated classified employees and 5 teachers connected unpaid permission Monday, arsenic per its committee of acquisition mandate that said employees indispensable beryllium vaccinated by Oct. 31.

The determination means the territory has a 98% vaccination complaint with its 2,100 employees, according to Superintendent Denise Jaramillo, who is stoked that vaccines are present disposable for the small ones.

“That’s a changeable toward normalcy for our schools, right?” she said Wednesday. “Vaccines, I think, are proven to beryllium what’s champion successful ending the pandemic, truthful arsenic the CDC has recovered that they’re harmless for kids, I deliberation parents volition look profoundly astatine themselves and determine if it’s close for their kid oregon not. But it’s our changeable astatine normalcy, I think.”

Jaramillo said the territory is putting unneurotic a docket of vaccination clinics for the kids that volition beryllium released Friday.

A mates miles east, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District leaders besides precocious enactment unvaccinated employees connected unpaid leave.

District officials noted Wednesday they person held vaccination clinics successful the past and it volition proceed to bash truthful successful airy of this week’s news.

This is simply a affirmative development, said Jill Rojas, territory adjunct superintendent of quality resources. “The committee of acquisition wants to support each students and unit arsenic harmless arsenic imaginable and truthful evidently the board’s content is that the vaccine is the safest way so, obviously, we’ve successful favour of it.”

The Mountain View School District, which closed 4 of its schools pursuing the 2020-21 schoolhouse twelvemonth due to the fact that of declining enrollment, besides reacted rapidly to the quality this week. Officials said they person vaccination clinics planned successful conjunction with its assemblage healthcare partners scheduled for Nov. 17 and Nov. 20.

“The support of the vaccine for children 5 to 11 years aged provides different furniture of extortion for students, helping to support them adjacent much safe,” Superintendent Maldonado French said.

South Whittier School District Superintendent Gary Gonzales agreed successful a abstracted connection Wednesday, erstwhile helium said the territory volition clasp clinics astatine section schools opening astatine 1:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8 astatine Loma Vista Elementary School.

“This is simply a furniture of extortion for our students and different students who are astir them and their families,” Gonzales said, highlighting however the unincorporated areas of South Whittier had 1 of the county’s higher levels of COVID-19. “We request to antagonistic that,” Gonzales added. “We request to get arsenic galore vaccinations successful our students and household arms arsenic we perchance can.”

While the pediatric shots are astir one-third of the dosage than the big vaccine, the doses indispensable beryllium fixed connected the aforesaid docket — 2 shots administered 21 days apart. Ferrer noted that children indispensable person a signed consent signifier from an big to person the shot, and immoderate vaccination sites necessitate them to beryllium accompanied by an adult.

The pediatric shots volition beryllium offered nether exigency usage authorization, the aforesaid authorization fixed to the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and to the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 12-15. Pfizer’s vaccine has afloat national support for radical ages 16 and up.

Appointments for vaccines tin beryllium made done the state’s MyTurn website, though galore vaccination sites connection shots without appointments. Ferrer encouraged residents to telephone earlier showing up for a walk-in, however.

According to the section wellness director, determination person been much than 79,000 COVID cases during the pandemic among children property 5-11 successful the county, and 1 fatality. About 37,000 cases person occurred successful kids up to property 4, besides with 1 death, and much than 89,000 cases successful those aged 12-17, with 5 deaths.

L.A. County recorded different 22 COVID-19 deaths connected Wednesday, on with much than 1,600 caller cases, though immoderate of those caller infections were the effect of a backlog of investigating results, wellness officials said. The regular rolling overage complaint of radical investigating affirmative for the microorganism successful the region was 1.2% arsenic of Wednesday.

The 22 caller deaths lifted the county’s pandemic decease toll to 26,683. The region reported different 1,605 caller cases, giving the region a cumulative full from passim the pandemic of 1,496,593.

According to authorities figures, determination were 662 COVID-positive patients hospitalized successful the region arsenic of Wednesday, up from 653 connected Tuesday. Of those hospitalized, 152 were being treated successful intensive care, down from 166 connected Tuesday.

Across the county, 80% of residents property 12 and older person received astatine slightest 1 dose of vaccine, portion 72% are afloat vaccinated, according to the county. Among the county’s wide colonisation of 10.3 cardinal people, including those nether property 12 who aren’t yet eligible for the shots, 69% person received astatine slightest 1 dose, and 61% are afloat vaccinated.

Black residents proceed to person the lowest vaccination rates, with conscionable 56% having received astatine slightest 1 dose. That compares with 64% of Latino/a residents, 74% of achromatic residents and 83% of Asians.

Younger Black residents person peculiarly debased vaccination rates, with the youngest property radical astatine 43% with astatine slightest 1 dose.

“I deliberation that the determination to get vaccinated is tough,” Pasadena’s Adam Nagata added earlier his household made its mode to the exit astatine Wednesday’s vaccination event. “But the alleviation that you consciousness is going to beryllium good. And look, the kids are already asking questions like: Can we play inside? Can we spell backmost to these places? Can we spell to Disneyland? So the thought of normalcy is returning and this is the catalyst.”

“Now that vaccinations are unfastened to children, we are coming person to getting backmost to harmless play and resuming each of the fantastic programming events and services that we each love,” said region Parks and Recreation Director Norma Garcia. “And that leads to a steadfast beingness and cohesive communities.”

Staff writers Linh Tat, Mike Sprague, Robert Morales, Tyler Evains and Michael Hixon, arsenic good arsenic City News Service and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

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