Source: Ohio Government and Politics Weekly Update June 17, 2022
Physicians and other health care professionals will likely have COVID-19 vaccines for the state’s youngest children by June 20 Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, said June 16.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee has unanimously approved vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for children younger than the age of five, Dr. Vanderhoff said during a virtual press conference.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was scheduled to meet on June 17-18 to consider recommending the shots. If the committee recommends the shots, the CDC director would then have to sign off on the authorization before they are allowed to be used nationwide.
“Although we, of course, do not yet know what the CDC will recommend, typically the CDC has acted in concert with the FDA. In anticipation of this, Ohio’s enrolled vaccine providers have begun placing orders for these vaccines, and the first deliveries are expected on June 20,” Dr. Vanderhoff said. “The state has a robust network of vaccine providers, so parents will have many options to access these shots. Providers including pediatricians, family physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, local health departments and federal qualified health centers are in that mix.”
Dr. Vanderhoff told Hannah News that ODH has been working closely with the federal government to ensure all Ohio parents and children will have access to the new vaccines.
“We have worked very actively over the course of the preceding weeks with our provider community to get vaccine pre-positioned out in practices so that almost immediately after the vaccine receives full approval and with appropriate guidance from the CDC, practitioners will be able to have vaccine and deliver that to patients,” Dr. Vanderhoff said.
Dr. Vanderhoff did not say exactly how many doses will be available in Ohio the week of June 20.