Children ages 5 to 11 can now get a Covid-19 vaccine in the US: Live updates – CNN

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients outlined how the Biden administration is ramping up the vaccination program for children after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director endorsed a recommendation to vaccinate children ages 5-11 against Covid-19, something he called a landmark moment in our vaccination campaign.

This is an exciting and long awaited moment for parents and for our vaccination program, he continued.

Zients said that starting the week of Nov. 8, the vaccination program for children will be fully up and running with about 20,000 trusted and convenient locations available for parents to get their kids vaccinated including pediatricians, family doctors, pharmacies, community health centers and children's hospitals.

Some of those locations have already started scheduling vaccine appointments for children and others, including CVS and Walgreens, will open scheduling systems today.

Zients said that by the end of the week, parents and guardians can go to vaccines.gov to search for locations near them offering vaccinations for kids ages 5-11.

He also highlighted steps state and local health departments are taking to meet children and parents where they are in order to vaccinate children as soon as possible.

State and local health departments are planning to launch thousands of community based clinics, including at youth sporting events, fairs, zoos, and community centers. And across the country, schools will partner with vaccine providers to host vaccination clinics, with more than 6000 clinics at schools being planned before the winter holiday break, he said.

The administration will also be meeting later Wednesday with governors offices, state and local health departments, community health centers and pharmacies as they stand up their vaccination operations.

Zients also highlighted the latest vaccination numbers, saying more than 222 million Americans have had at least their first shot and 70% of adults are now fully vaccinated.He also said that today the country recorded over 1.3 million shots in arms, which is up almost 20% from last Wednesday's report.

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Children ages 5 to 11 can now get a Covid-19 vaccine in the US: Live updates - CNN