By KENNEDY GRIFFIN
(Franklin County, MA) *Update* The Baker Administration announced Sunday that 400 locations across Massachusetts will be offering shots for children six months old to 4 years old in the coming weeks. Both the CDC and FDA gave their approval of the shots last week. Since the pandemic started, there have been about 480 deaths of children under five years old and Baystate is reporting four confirmed COVID-19 cases at Baystate Franklin Medical Center as of Sunday evening.
—
*Update* After meeting with an independent panel Wednesday, the FDA voted to approve both the Moderna and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for kids under five. This is the last group of the population to get access to a COVID vaccine. If the rest of the process goes smoothly, shots could be available next week for children as young as six months old. It is unclear how much demand there will be for vaccines in this age group.
—
Over two million rapid result at-home COVID-19 tests will be coming to Massachusetts communities. In Franklin County, Greenfield will be receiving 6,300 test kits and Deerfield will get 1,800 as distribution rolls them out over the next two weeks.
Franklin County has reported 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 12,063 total confirmed cases. There have been two new deaths and 150 total confirmed and probable deaths in the county.
Also, in initial studies the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are proving to be effective in kids under five years old. Pfizer’s vaccine for young children is a three shot series that is showing 80% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, while Moderna’s two shot series was showing up to 50% efficacy in preventing milder infections.
The FDA will be holding a meeting Wednesday with a panel of independent vaccine experts to discuss the vaccine for this age group and vote on whether or not to authorize the use of these vaccines in young children. After the FDA releases its decision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hold its own panel to decide on their recommendations.