Newstrack: COVID vaccine rate slows among Iowa children

It’s been about three months since federal health officials approved the Pfizer-BioNTech two-dose vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

On Nov. 2, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the final go-ahead for that age group to begin receiving the coronavirus shots, opening the door for more than 284,000 children in Iowa to be immunized against COVID-19. Vaccine providers began administering the first shots to that age group on Nov. 3.

Demand for the shots was steady In the first weeks, with more than 16,000 doses administered between Nov. 3 and Nov. 12, according to state public health officials.

About 2.6 million 5- to 11-year-olds — or about 10 percent of children in that age group nationwide — received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in the first two weeks of eligibility, according to White House officials.

What’s Happened Since

As of Jan. 18, more than 67,000 Iowa children between 5 and 11 have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, or 23 percent of the children in that age group in Iowa, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

More than 51,000 — 17.8 percent — of children in that age group were fully vaccinated by Jan. 18.

Children in older age groups have had access to COVID-19 vaccines for a longer period of time and have a higher vaccination rate than their younger peers.

Nearly half of all 16- and 17-year-olds in Iowa were fully vaccinated as of this past week. For 12- to 15-year-olds, about 45 percent were fully vaccinated, according to state public health officials.

Nationally, more than a quarter of 5- to 11-year-olds — or about 28 percent — had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Jan. 18 and 18.8 percent were fully vaccinated, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Vaccination rates among 5- to 11-year olds rose sharply in the t two weeks after Nov. 2 and peaked Nov. 14. Following that period, the rate “dropped steeply through the beginning of December,” according to the Kaiser analysis.

Iowa ranks roughly in the middle of the pack when comparing vaccination rates for children among all 50 states.

According to Kaiser Family Foundation, the state ranks 32nd for the share of children aged 5 to 11 years with at least one dose, and 26th for the share of fully vaccinated 5- to 11-year-olds.

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