Half of U.S. Teens Have at Least One Covid Vaccine Shot

U.S.|Half of the adolescents successful the U.S. person received astatine slightest 1 dose of a coronavirus vaccine, White House says.

• Aug. 27, 2021Updated 4:25 p.m. ET

Half of the 12- to 17-year-olds successful the United States person gotten astatine slightest 1 dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the White House’s Covid-19 effect coordinator, Jeff Zients, announced connected Friday, a promising improvement successful a radical that has been deed harder by the Delta variant than earlier forms of the virus.

“This is captious advancement arsenic millions of kids caput backmost to school, and, successful fact, the vaccination complaint among adolescents is increasing faster than immoderate different property group,” Mr. Zients said astatine a quality league with the White House Covid-19 Response Team. “And we volition proceed to bash everything we tin to get this radical of adolescents vaccinated.”

The gait of vaccinations has picked up successful caller weeks aft the extremely contagious Delta variant drove a surge successful cases, hospitalizations and deaths astir the state — each of which person reached levels not seen since past winter.

And vaccinating adolescents is peculiarly important present that schools are reopening, said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, due to the fact that children who are younger than 12 are not yet authorized to person immoderate of the vaccines and inoculating arsenic galore radical astir them arsenic imaginable volition assistance support them safe.

“It’s quality quality to support our children supra each else, and the champion mode to support them is to get everyone who is eligible vaccinated and situation children who are not yet vaccine-eligible with radical who are vaccinated to efficaciously shield them from Covid harm,” Dr. Walensky said. She added that wide vaccination, coupled with measures similar masking and societal distancing, would assistance support children harmless successful a schoolhouse setting.

Data from the C.D.C. bespeak that determination person been astir 4 cardinal reported cases of Covid-19 and 385 deaths involving the disease successful children 17 and younger successful the United States.

Earlier this week the F.D.A. granted afloat support to Pfizer’s vaccine for those ages 16 and older, but it is not yet wide erstwhile specified an approval, which tin marque it easier to enforce vaccine mandates, mightiness beryllium granted for adolescents and younger children.

The C.D.C. released connected Friday a report connected vaccine uptake successful adolescents astir the country, based connected vaccine medication information from the District of Columbia and each authorities but Idaho taken from Dec. 14, 2020, to July 31, 2021.

It noted respective imaginable limitations, including that adolescents who received their shots from antithetic entities mightiness not person been reported arsenic completing their people of treatment, but concluded that vaccinating teenagers was cardinal to a safer instrumentality to school, particularly due to the fact that of the Delta variant.

The survey indicated that vaccination uptake varied wide by state, with adolescents successful the Northeast and connected the West Coast astir apt to beryllium inoculated, and those ages 16 to 17 much apt to beryllium vaccinated than those 12 to 15. This is astir apt due to the fact that the vaccine has been authorized for the older subset for months longer.

Some teenagers reported receiving vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson adjacent though they person not been authorized for adolescents.

The survey recommended “concerted outreach” to adolescents and their parents, and “school-based vaccination programs, specified arsenic those for seasonal influenza and regular teen vaccination,” to get much shots successful arms.