The President of the United States, Joe Biden, stated that the vaccine booster being available and the start of COVID-19 vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 are bound to hurry up the pandemic’s end.
Biden also mentioned that COVID cases and hospitalizations have been dropping in numbers, being down over 50 percent since the beginning of September.
In fact, they have been going down in 40 states in the last two weeks.
During his statement delivered at the White House, the President shared that “Vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 and boosters that provide additional protection for seniors and others are two major steps forward that are going to accelerate our path out of this pandemic.”
This comes after public health officials also previously said that vaccinating children with smaller doses and also offering boosters to adults could really help achieve an “endemic” phase of COVID-19.
This would mean that while the virus would continue to circulate, it would do so at lower levels than currently.
According to a new CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the 7 day average number of cases in the United States was going down steadily but about a week ago, the numbers started to climb back up.
The virus still infects over 74,000 Americans every day, on average.
Furthermore, officials claim that cases among children are also starting to make up a greater percentage of COVID-19 infections when compared to the beginning of the pandemic, mostly due to the emergence of more easily transmissible mutations of the virus such as the delta variant.
With that being said, on Tuesday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky cleared the distribution of Pfizer vaccines to kids under the age of 12.
The only difference between the adult shot and the one 28 million young ones are now eligible to receive is the dosage.
In the meantime, U.S. regulators have also authorized the distribution of booster shots for those who have already received the 2 doses of the vaccine.
Based on CDC data, as of Tuesday, almost 20 million American citizens have received their third dose.
Biden mentioned in his statement today that the booster shots are “free and effective” and encouraged all senior people to get one as soon as possible.
“Our vaccination program is not only helping to save lives and beat the pandemic, it’s helping our economic recovery and helping us grow,” he went on to state.
As for the shots meant for younger age groups, the President pointed out that this process of vaccinating kids will allow them to physically go to school and socialize more with other kids their age.
“I think every reporter in this room who has a child understands the difference of a child going to school and having to learn from home. It matters,” Biden said.
