The Los Angeles Post

GOTTLIEB PREDICTS SLOW START FOR KIDS’ VACCINES

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There are still questions about how many parents will actually get their young kids vaccinated even after the authorization.

  • Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that he anticipates a slow rollout for COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 5.
  • “I think it’s going to be a little bit more of a slow rollout relative to what we’ve seen in past rollouts with the other age groups,” Gottlieb said of vaccinating the youngest Americans during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“Maybe around children’s hospitals, you’ll see some clinics stood up, but most people are probably going to get vaccinated in their pediatricians’ offices, and it’s going to take a little bit more time to get the vaccine into those local settings because it’s more difficult to vaccinate a child who is very young,” Gottlieb continued.

 

Not everyone eager to vaccinate their kids: Gottlieb also cited surveys that indicated that roughly 20 percent of parents with children under 5 planned to vaccinate their children but said he anticipated a possibly lower rate.

 

“As prevalence declines going into the summer, a lot of parents may choose to take a wait-and-see attitude and reconsider this in the fall. I think uptick will be pretty slow,” he explained.