Jill Biden to visit pediatric vaccination centers in the US 0:39
(CNN) -
First lady Jill Biden and Dr. Vivek Murthy, director general of Health of the United States, will promote this Monday the increase in the number of childhood vaccination centers against covid-19, in the beginning of a national campaign of the Government to promote vaccines for the very young and those newly eligible for vaccination.
"In the coming weeks, the first lady will visit pediatric COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the country, including in schools, children's hospitals and other places in the community, and will encourage more places to offer vaccines for the children of her community and protect them from covid-19, "said a White House official.
Pediatric vaccine against covid-19 does not pose a risk of infertility
Along with the efforts of Biden and Murthy, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona sent a letter to school superintendents and elementary school principals on Monday. .
"We urge you to do everything you can to help parents and families learn about and access the vaccine," the secretaries wrote in the letter, encouraging school leaders to organize a COVID-19 clinic in their homes. schools, to distribute information to families with children ages 5 to 11, and to organize conversations with school communities in collaboration with medical professionals.
The Biden administration, the official said, "is also encouraging districts across the country to establish vaccination clinics located in schools, using their funds from the American Rescue Plan to help establish these clinics, and using providers through of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program to administer vaccines. "
The push to increase vaccination centers comes at a time when approximately 20,000 centers for children ages 5 to 11 are in operation.
What to do to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 in the US 0:50
"In total, starting next week, parents will have approximately 20,000 trusted and convenient places to vaccinate their children, with more and more sites that will be operational in the coming weeks," said the coordinator of the response from the White House against covid-19, Jeff Zients, to reporters last Wednesday, adding: "As we reach maximum deployment next week, it will become easier and easier to find a site nearby and schedule an appointment."
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A White House official said the push from the first lady and the Health Director is not a reflection that there are not enough vaccination sites for children, but rather an effort to expand the number of points available for the children. families School vaccination clinics have worked well in the past, so they are trying to push states and localities to get these sites up and running. Funding for the covid aid package, which was approved earlier this year, can support those efforts.
Biden and Murthy visit Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, which was the first school to receive the polio vaccine in 1954. Almost 70 years later, the First Lady and the Director General of Health will make the first White House visit to a pediatric COVID-19 vaccination clinic, meeting with students and local officials and delivering a speech.
Children from 5 to 11 years old can already receive the vaccine against covid-19 in the United States.
The visit comes nearly a week after Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), endorsed the recommendation to vaccinate Children 5 to 11 years old against COVID-19 with Pfizer's two-dose regimen.
The visit will be the first of a tour by the first lady to "pediatric covid-19 vaccination clinics across the country, including schools, children's hospitals and other community sites," according to the White House.
Jill Bidenvaccine against covid-19
