Biden Administration Presses Schools to Provide COVID-19 Shots to Children

TUESDAY, Nov. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As new government data showed that 360,000 young children have now gotten their first shot, the Biden administration on Monday asked schools to help by hosting vaccination clinics and providing information to parents on the benefit of the shots.

On Monday, First Lady Jill Biden kicked off a campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccinations for children as she and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., visited Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. The school was the first to administer the polio vaccine in 1954, the Associated Press reported.

"The vaccine is the best way to protect your children against COVID-19," Jill Biden told parents. "It's been thoroughly reviewed and rigorously tested. It's safe. It's free. And it's available for every child in this country, five and up." She plans to visit pediatric vaccination clinics to deliver the same message in the coming weeks, the AP reported.

At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are sending a letter to school districts, calling on them to organize vaccine clinics for their newly eligible students, the AP reported. The officials are also reminding school districts that they can tap into billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief money to support pediatric vaccination efforts.

The White House is also teaming up with the American Academy of Pediatrics to have local physicians provide schools with science-based information about the shots, the AP reported.

Associated Press Article