COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Wednesday said the CNMI is due to receive 2,700 initial doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds on Saturday, Nov. 6.
“Once we receive them, we are actually rolling them out on the same day,” the health chief said. “As soon as we get it, we’ll push out the message about the availability. It will be available at the multi-purpose center.”
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Wolensky has approved the vaccine, after receiving recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
For its part, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the vaccine for emergency use, following recommendations from its own expert panel of advisers.
The CDC said that roughly 28 million children will be eligible for the vaccine, estimating that every million shots of the vaccine could prevent about 80 to 226 coronavirus-related hospitalizations of 5- to 11-year-olds in the nation.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against Covid-19 in its clinical trial of children in this younger age group.
“We’re rolling it out. Hopefully, we’ll get to the schools when they reopen. [We’re] looking forward to that,” Muna said.
In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Muna and other health officials urged eligible community members to get vaccinated.
“I just want to reiterate that testing is not a preventive strategy. Just being tested isn’t going to prevent you from spreading [Covid-19] to your family or gathering. The best prevention we have is our vaccination,” said Stephanie Kern-Allely, regional epidemiologist of the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association.
“Testing is a… snapshot [that] can help us identify transmission and help us break those chains of transmission, but it’s still not prevention,” she added.
“We really need to focus on ensuring that we’re preventing those chains of transmission from continuing by vaccination and, of course, our 3 Ws [Wear a mask, Wash your hands, Watch your distance] emphasizing that those are our preventive strategies.
“Not only does it stop the spread, but vaccine saves lives. We’re seeing that our cases are very mild symptoms…. For the cases up until yesterday, we haven’t seen hospitalizations since our last community transmission, and so that’s really a testament to our high vaccination coverage here in the CNMI. We’re able to reduce the risk of severe disease,” she said.
As of Wednesday, 83.8% of the individuals aged 12 or older in the CNMI, or 35,538 individuals, had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
