Local Health Departments Prepare As Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids 5-11 Near Approval

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(CBS DETROIT)- Months after COVID-19 vaccinations were approved for those 12 years old and older, we are near final approval for the younger population.

"Many of us are anxiously awaiting we heard yesterday that the FDA advisory committee did recommend going forward with the Pfizer Biotech vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds," said Infectious Diseases Lead For COVID-19 response, St. Joseph Mercy Health Doctor And Malani.

As a physician Dr. Malani says this will be a game changer in the on-going fight against COVID. And as a parent of a 12 year old who's vaccinated and a 10 year who's not, he says when more kids are vaccinated, there will be less school disruptions.

"My daughter who's fully vaccinated she hasn't had any disruptions this year in class, in sports, everything has been smooth sailing. My son on the other hand he's actually had disruptions," Dr. Malani said.

He says since the start of this school year those 5 to 18 years of age are the group with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.

Health official's in the area says, once final approvals for younger kids are given, they'll be ready to start administering shots.

"Right now we're working very closely with our school districts on opportunities for families to come get vaccinated at a school district near them," said Director and Health Officer of the Macomb County Health Department Andrew Cox.

Cox says health departments in Macomb County will also have shots available for kids, which will be a third of the adult dose.

Detroit is also working with DPSCD on having shots available for students, but realize there's still much vaccine hesitancy in the community.

"Our goal is to educate parents who have lots of questions about the vaccine, we have a team of clinician educators who will be out in the community," said Chief Public Health Officer for the City of Detroit Denise Fair Razo.

Final COVID-19 vaccine approval for this age group can come as soon as next week