N.J. orders 205K pediatric COVID vaccine doses in anticipation of kids 5-11 being eligible – NJ.com

New Jersey has ordered 205,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years old in anticipation of federal officials giving approval for its use as soon as next week, state officials said Wednesday.

Gov. Phil Murphy added he has “no plans” to require school kids in the Garden State be vaccinated against the virus.

State Health Commissioner Judith Perschilli said the state will be ready to begin doling out the vaccines the next day after they’re approved and doses will be available throughout the state, including at some in-school vaccine clinics.

“We will be prepared to vaccinate younger children,” Persichilli said at the state’s latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.

There are about 760,000 children ages 5 to 11 in New Jersey who would be eligible for the two-dose Pfizer pediatric vaccine, which is a lower dose than the vaccine for those 12 and older, Persichilli said.

“Sites will be receiving the vaccines to start immunizing children as soon as the approval is granted,” the commissioner said. “All 21 counties will have sites prepared to vaccinate children with the lower dose pediatric Pfizer vaccine that is safe and highly effective.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the last hurdle for the pediatric Pfizer vaccine.

Upon approval, vaccines for children will be available at hundreds of locations including independent and chain pharmacies, hospitals, local and county vaccination centers and one of the state’s megasites.

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Currently, only people as young as 12 can receive a Pfizer vaccine.

Murphy called children vaccines “a game-changer” and said “it’ll be a busy week next week.”

But he said he has “zero expectation” the state will mandate children be vaccinated.

“At the moment, we just don’t need to,” the governor said.

Murphy said not only are the state’s COVID-19 numbers “getting better,” but school outbreaks are “well within any reasonable expectation.

Still, he added he wouldn’t “commit” to no mandate in case the pandemic gets worse.

Sixty-two percent of people aged 12 to 17 in New Jersey have received at least one dose and 70% 16 to 17 have received at least one jab, Perschilli said.

Through the first several weeks of the school year, districts in New Jersey have reported at least 137 in-school outbreaks, for a total of 715 cases as of Wednesday. That’s an increase of 11 outbreaks from the previous week.

Overall, New Jersey on Wednesday reported another 33 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 1,034 cases across the state.

The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests dropped to 1,143, the lowest since Aug. 6. The average is down 8% from a week ago and 36% from a month ago.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.