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Over half a million US minors have received first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – At least 600,000 children aged 12-15 in the United States have received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently authorized for use in this age group, the Hill reported Tuesday.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, around 3.9 million US children have been infected with Covid-19, around 14 percent of all cases in the US, the Hill said.

During a press briefing last week Tuesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said some 3.5 million minors under the age of 18 have now been vaccinated. While the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are recommended for people aged over 18 only, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use for minors under 16 years old, the Hill reports.

The Biden administration has been encouraging minors who are eligible for the shot to be vaccinated quickly. At last week’s press briefing, White House coronavirus response adviser Andy Slavitt directed his remarks toward young people, saying: “The pandemic disrupted your schooling, your job search, your income, your social lives. You’ve seen and experienced stress in a way you probably haven’t before…Getting vaccinated is part of carrying the mantle of becoming the generation that changes things for the better.”

So far, around 56 percent of the US population aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with 44 percent fully vaccinated, the Hill said.

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