The Bidens on Tuesday celebrated the expansion of shots to nearly all Americans across the country by visiting with a group of young children among the first in the nation to get their jabs. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden traveled to a clinic in Washington, D.C. where they met with children getting their first COVID vaccines

  • Federal health officials last week authorized both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old

  • Major pharmacies including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart are already scheduling pediatric vaccine appointments for later this week.

  • Starting Tuesday, individuals can go to the federal vaccine website to find information on pediatric COVID-19 vaccine providers near them

 

President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden traveled to the D.C. Health COVID-19 Center where they met with children getting their first dose of either the Modern or Pfizer vaccine, just approved by the CDC and FDA last week. 

“Finally, some peace of mind,” Biden said in an afternoon speech from the White House following the clinic visit. “This is a very historic milestone. A monumental step forward. The United States is now the first country in the world to offer safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old.” 

Federal health officials last week authorized both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old – the last remaining cohort in the U.S. to become eligible for vaccination. 

Now, adults can begin scheduling shots for the roughly 18 million children in the age group. Pfizer’s vaccine is for children 6 months to 4 years old. The dose is one-tenth of the adult dose, and three shots are needed. The first two are given three weeks apart, and the last at least two months later.

Moderna’s is two shots, each a quarter of its adult dose, given about four weeks apart for kids 6 months through 5 years old. The FDA also approved a third dose, at least a month after the second shot, for children with immune conditions that make them more vulnerable to serious illness.

Major pharmacies including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart are already scheduling pediatric vaccine appointments for later this week. Starting Tuesday, individuals can go to the federal vaccine website to find information on pediatric COVID-19 vaccine providers near them. 

“Parents will soon be able to start scheduling an appointment and addressing vaccines at pediatricians' offices, children's hospitals,” Biden added. “More and more locations will be ramping up and more vaccines are delivered to providers in your areas every day.” 

Still, the administration is cautioning that it expects the pace of shots for the youngest kids to be slower than older ones, as parents are more likely to rely on their children’s pediatricians to administer them. 

Last Saturday, Biden hailed the decision to authorize the shots for young children, in a statement, calling the move "a monumental step forward in our nation’s fight against the virus."

"After a rigorous and independent scientific review, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now authorized and recommended the first COVID-19 vaccines for kids under the age of five," Biden said. "For parents all over the country, this is a day of relief and celebration."

"As the first country to protect our youngest children with COVID-19 vaccines, my Administration has been planning and preparing for this moment for months, effectively securing doses and offering safe and highly effective mRNA vaccines for all children as young as six months old," he continued. "We are ready to build on the progress of our historic vaccination program that has resulted in over 220 million Americans fully vaccinated, more than 100 million Americans boosted, and over 2 million American lives saved."

Biden on Tuesday encouraged all older Americans who are eligible to get their booster doses, if they haven’t already, saying: “For everyone else – get your shots. Get your boosters.”

“And let's be clear: elected officials shouldn't get in the way and make it more difficult for parents who want their children to be vaccinated who want to protect them and those around them,” he added. “This is no time for politics. It's about parents being able to do everything they can to keep their children safe.”

It was a thinly veiled criticism of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who blocked his health department from ordering and delivering pediatric vaccines in his state, a move the White House said delayed the availability of shots for kids under 5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.