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Marin County has made a plan to begin immunizing children on October 30 if the Food and Drug Administration approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds by then.
“We are preparing, but not until everything is approved,” said Mary Jane Burke, superintendent of schools for Marin County on Wednesday. “We are not going to vaccinate the children tomorrow. The bottom line is that one of the hallmarks of the success we have had in Marin is the leadership of our public health department and they are forward thinking, so we should be prepared. … We anticipate what is going to be necessary so that we are ready and we don’t have to wait until we have the information and then prepare. “
Burke said there were several elements in the emergency plan which was coordinated with the Marin County public health department.
“Our internal goal is that 75% of eligible children receive their first dose within one month of the vaccine being authorized for this purpose,” wrote Laine Hendricks, spokesperson for the department, in an email.
The county is preparing to hold school clinics and large-scale day-long events to help facilitate vaccinations among this group.
Burke said there were three consecutive weekends tentatively scheduled for vaccine events: October 30 and 31, November 6 and 7, and November 13 and 14.
“We know that many parents will want to seek advice from their pediatrician or family doctor, so we are also working to build the capacity of family doctors to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine in their offices,” Hendricks said. “We are contacting and meeting with pediatric practices to review vaccine administration, refrigeration / storage, etc. In that sense, Marin County Public Health would complement what pediatricians are offering.
Before the vaccine is distributed, the county is preparing to create opportunities for families to talk to doctors and ask questions about the vaccine. A meeting for families with public health doctors in Spanish and English is expected to take place in mid-October.
“It’s great if you anticipate what you have to do,” said Burke.
The county posted a video explaining its emergency plan on YouTube.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Tuesday that data on the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 would arrive soon and could be submitted to the FDA by the end of September, CNBC reported.
“Then it’s up to the FDA to take its time and then make a decision,” Bourla said in an interview with Research America’s National Health Research Forum 2021.
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