RI Ready To Vaccinate Kids Age 5-11 For COVID Once Approved: Gov.

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island is ready to administer COVID-19 vaccines to children age 5-11 once federal officials give their approval, Gov. Dan McKee and state Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott said in a news conference Thursday.

Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is approved for everyone 12 and older, but McKee said he expects the FDA will authorize emergency use in younger children sometime in November.

Speaking at the Providence Children’s Museum, McKee and Alexander-Scott both said the state will be prepared to vaccinate the 80,000 Rhode Island children in this age group. Once the state receives supply and gets approval, McKee said there will be state-run clinics, schools, community-run clinics and pediatrician offices giving out doses throughout Rhode Island. The museum will also be one of the locations providing vaccine clinics.

McKee said state officials reached out to every licensed pediatrician in the state. As of Thursday, 81 of the state's 134 pediatricians told health officials they are either ready to vaccinate or are in the process of being onboarded to do so.

"This opportunity to protect some of our youngest community members against COVID-19 is right around the corner," McKee said. "Rhode Island will be ready."

Alexander-Scott said the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine administered to children will be different from the vaccine administered to adults.

"While the components of this vaccine are the same, the actual formulation will be different for younger kids," Alexander-Scott said.

Alexander-Scott said it's normal for vaccines to have slightly different formulas based on age groups. Because of this, she said the new formulation will need to be mass-produced at the federal level, then ordered by states, shipped to them and then get distributed through state networks.

"What that means for us in Rhode Island, We aren't going to get 80,000 doses of this vaccine all at once at the beginning," Alexander-Scott said. "It will take time."

Alexander-Scott estimated it will take a few weeks for the state to get all the child doses it needs.

Vaccination rates and other key health metrics

McKee and Alexander-Scott congratulated health care workers and Rhode Islanders for helping keep Rhode Island's coronavirus metrics among the best in the United States. McKee said Rhode Island leads the U.S. in testing, has the second-lowest coronavirus positivity test rate, and is third for the number of people who are fully vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, about 71 percent of Rhode Islanders are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, and more than 65 percent are fully vaccinated. McKee said the number is even higher among people age 18 and older, where 89 percent are at least partially vaccinated.

"People in the state of Rhode Island responded in a real strong way by getting vaccinated and following other protocol," McKee said.

Alexander-Scott said 95 percent of the state's health care workers are fully vaccinated, and most of the rest are on their way. She thanked the workers for understanding patients have a right to be protected against COVID-19.

"We can be confident that our patients in our nursing home and other residential facilities are so much safer because of the approach we've taken and the high vaccination rates we have," Alexander-Scott said. "That's a kudos to all."