Starting Thursday, UAB To Offer Pfizer Vaccine To Adolescents

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2021/05/Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21.png
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1890;s:6:"height";i:1063;s:4:"file";s:33:"2021/05/Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21.png";s:5:"sizes";a:16:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-336x189.png";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-771x434.png";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-140x140.png";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-768x432.png";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-1536x864.png";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-80x80.png";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-800x450.png";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-600x600.png";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-553x311.png";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-470x265.png";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-125x125.png";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:27:"web-stories-poster-portrait";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-640x853.png";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:853;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:28:"web-stories-poster-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-853x640.png";s:5:"width";i:853;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:25:"web-stories-poster-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-640x640.png";s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:640;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:26:"web-stories-publisher-logo";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-96x96.png";s:5:"width";i:96;s:6:"height";i:96;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:21:"web-stories-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:32:"Ellen_Eaton_-_5-11-21-150x84.png";s:5:"width";i:150;s:6:"height";i:84;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Mary Scott Hodgin
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1664496638 
1620755343

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.

 

From painting to producing: Birmingham DJ Andrea Really releases first album

Birmingham DJ Andrea Really wasn't always a music producer. She used to be a prolific painter. But when her art studio burned down in 2017, she pivoted careers. Really spoke with WBHM about that journey upon the release of her first album this summer, called Zeitgeist.

A year after Helene, a group of raft guides embarks on a river clean-up mission

A popular rafting river in the Appalachian mountains is still closed a year after Hurricane Helene, because there's just too much debris. Now, rafting guides have come together to help clean it up.

Lesotho’s Famo music: from shepherd songs to gang wars

In Lesotho, a style of traditional accordion music called Famo has become entangled with deadly gang rivalries. Once the soundtrack of shepherds and migrant workers, today it's linked to killings, government bans — and a fight over cultural identity.

Comic Cristela Alonzo grew up in fear of border patrol. ICE has ‘brought it all back’

For the first seven years of her life, Alonzo lived in an abandoned diner in a south Texas border town. Her new Netflix stand-up special is called Upper Classy.

Compass-Anywhere real estate merger could squeeze small brokerages

The deal, announced earlier this week, would combine the two largest U.S. residential brokerages by sales volume.

Police say ‘everyone has been accounted for’ in Michigan church attack that killed 4

The suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, military officials confirmed to NPR. He was killed in a shootout with police.

More Coronavirus Coverage