COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Friday said the approval of Covid-19 vaccines for 5- to 11-year-old children will help increase the CNMI’s herd immunity percentage.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 83.5% of the eligible CNMI population, or 35,383 individuals 12 years of age or older, had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Muna also said that 2,700 doses of pediatric Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds have been pre-ordered for the CNMI, in anticipation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approving the vaccine.
According to Reuters on Tuesday, an expert panel of outside advisers voted 17 to 1 to recommend that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer/BioNTech pediatric vaccine for approval, noting that the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.
Health officials state that the vaccine could be available to the younger age group as soon as next week.
Should the FDA authorize the vaccine for this age group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization, a panel of CDC advisers, will meet next week to make a recommendation on the administration of the vaccine.
After a recommendation is made by the panel of expert advisers to the CDC, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will make the final decision.
It is projected that the entire review process will conclude as early as next week.
Muna said because they are ineligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccines, children have been a concern.
“We are now already ordering the supplies so when November hits we are ready to distribute vaccines to the children,” she added.
The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is currently approved for emergency use authorization in individuals 12 to 15 years of age.
It is also the only one among the three Covid-19 vaccines used in the U.S. that has been fully approved by regulators for any age group.
In its clinical studies, Pfizer/BioNTech said it saw the Covid-19 vaccine induce a strong immune response among the 2,268 clinical trial participants.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also testing the vaccine in children 2 to 5 years of age, as well as children 6 months to 2 years of age.
As of Sunday, the CNMI reported 291 total confirmed Covid-19 cases, five hospitalizations, one active hospitalization, and three deaths since March 28, 2020.
