The U.S. government appears to be inching closer to green-lighting the first coronavirus vaccine for kids. According to The New York Times and other news organizations, the safe and effective two-shot vaccine from Pfizer could win FDA emergency-use authorization for children and teens aged 12 to 15 as soon as next week.
Opening up vaccinations to younger teens would add nearly 20 million people to the pool of Americans who are eligible for inoculation against the scourge that continues to ravage entire countries and has claimed well over half a million American lives. That, in turn, could juice the United States’ flagging vaccination campaign—and make the coming school year much safer for students, teachers, and school staff. But don’t count on those obvious benefits to convince potentially tens of millions of anti-vaxxer parents. In fact, experts say, resistance to America’s world-class vaccination campaign is stiffening among science-deniers and Fox News-bingeing right-wingers, and when kids are involved, it will get ugly.
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