Starting Thursday, UAB To Offer Pfizer Vaccine To Adolescents
UAB Health System plans to offer the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents beginning Thursday, pending a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Food and Drug Administration expanded its emergency use authorization Monday to include children aged 12 to 15, following clinical trial results that found the Pfizer shot to be 100% effective in preventing disease among this age group.
“Overall this is a win for our community, to be able to provide one more group in Alabama and nationally with that protection,” UAB infectious disease specialist Dr. Ellen Eaton said during a press conference Tuesday.
Eaton said children infected with COVID-19 have better outcomes than adults, but serious illness and death are still possible. She said vaccination offers protection and helps everyone return to normal routines.
“Hospitalization and death are not the only bad outcomes for kids,” Eaton said. “Getting kids protected so that they can also achieve these other outcomes, not just wellness, but education, social, emotional, development. Those are things that have all been hindered significantly with the pandemic.”
UAB officials plan to expand eligibility on Thursday at all four of their community vaccination sites. No appointment is necessary but children need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, who must give permission to receive the Pfizer shot.
Across Alabama, demand for COVID-19 vaccinations in Alabama has declined in recent weeks and the state’s vaccination rate is among the lowest in the country. About 25% of the population is fully vaccinated, placing the state second to last nationwide.
Editor’s note: UAB holds WBHM’s broadcasting license, but the news and business departments operate independently.
Senate Democrats ramp up pressure campaign for public hearings on war with Iran
Congressional Democrats are demanding transparency in the form of public hearings from Trump administration officials on the timeline and objectives of the war in Iran.
Ivey commutes death sentence of inmate whose accomplice fired fatal shot
Charles “Sonny” Burton was sentenced to death for the killing of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery. However, another man shot Battle when Burton had left the building.
Wheelchair curler Steve Emt’s path from drunk driver to three-time Paralympian
Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer represent the U.S. in the Paralympics' new mixed doubles wheelchair curling event. They could bring home Team USA's first wheelchair curling medal ever.
Immigration detention on track for deadliest fiscal year since 2004
Twenty-three people have died since October in ICE custody, as advocates warn about overcrowding and health care access.
Photos from Iran and across the Middle East as the war enters Week 2
More than a week of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran has dragged in global powers, upended the world's energy and transport sectors, and brought chaos to usually peaceful areas of the region.
‘American Classic’ is a hidden gem that gets even better as it goes
In this charming TV series, Kevin Kline plays a Shakespearean actor who retreats to his small hometown after a crisis, and gets engaged in an effort to save the local theater.
