(Reuters) – Seven-year-old Gael Coreas stuck out his left arm fearlessly to receive his first COVID-19 shot at a health clinic in the nation’s capital yesterday, wincing briefly as cameras flashed to capture the moment.
Coreas was in the first cohort of young children to be inoculated as the United States yesterday began administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11, the latest group to become eligible for the shots that provide protection against the illness to recipients and those around them.
“We are very excited,” Coreas’ mother Alma Benavides, a 37-year-old small business owner, said at Mary Center’s in Washington. “We waited a long time and it’s very special for me.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer Inc BioNTech SE shot for broad use in that age group, four days after it was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Only a limited amount of the initial 15 million shots being distributed will be available on Wednesday. They are expected to be more widely accessible at pediatrician’s offices, children’s hospitals and pharmacies next week.
