The Food and Drug Administration authorized on June 17 both the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines for the nation’s youngest children.
The federal agency approved Moderna’s two-dose vaccine for children 6 months through 5 years old and Pfizer’s three-dose vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years old.
“Many parents, caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death.”
Orders Being Filled
Regulators followed the recommendation of independent experts on an advisory panel, who voted unanimously on June 15 in favor of both vaccines. All Americans other than the roughly 20 million children under the age of 5 have had the option of protecting themselves against COVID-19 for months and are eligible for booster shots.
“Those trusted with the care of children can have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of these COVID-19 vaccines and can be assured that the agency was thorough in its evaluation of the data,” said Califf.
The Biden Administration had allowed pharmacies and states to start placing orders earlier this month, with 5 million doses initially available—split evenly between the two drug makers. As of June 9, about 1.45 million of the 2.5 million available doses of Pfizer have been ordered, and about 850,000 of available Moderna shots have been ordered.
COVID-19 cases:
New daily PCR cases: 2,914; Probable Cases: 733
Total Cases: 2,451,377 (2,100,417 PCR cases, 350,960 probable cases)
New Confirmed Deaths: 8 (7 probable deaths, 33,920 total deaths)
Rate of Transmission: 0.84, down from 0.84 a day before
Percent Positivity: 7.3% as of June 13; by region, the rate was 7.9% in the North, 8.1% in the Central region and 7.1% in the South
By County:
Bergen County: 358 New Cases, 117 Probable Cases, 3,168 deaths, 335 probable deaths
Essex County: 283 New Cases, 53 Probable Cases, 3,317 deaths, 315 probable deaths
Hudson County: 366 New Cases, 61 Probable Cases, 2,519 total deaths, 221 probable deaths
Morris County: 156 New Cases, 41 Probable Cases, 1,262 deaths, 306 probable deaths
Passaic County: 174 New Cases, 38 Probable Cases, 2,147 deaths, 204 probable deaths
Sussex County: 26 New Cases, 9 Probable Cases, 398 deaths, 93 probable deaths
Warren County: 22 New Cases, 3 Probable Cases, 319 deaths, 27 probable deaths
Hospitals
Hospitalizations: 791 (306 North, 254 Central and 231 South)
Patients in intensive care units: 82
Patients on ventilators: 40
Patients discharged: 153
The state dashboard showed all 71 hospitals in the state reporting
Long-term Care Facilities
Facilities currently reporting one case: 363 (2,820 overall)
Current number of residents: 4,473 (51,366 overall)
Current number of staffers: 4,123 (41,110 overall)
Number of Deaths: 9,158 overall (8,636 reported by facilities, 139 staff deaths)
Vaccine
Total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey: 14,550,764 (14,039,192 in-state, plus an additional 511,572 administered out-of-state)
Fully Vaccinated: 6,933,161 (6,725,915 in state and another 207,246 out of state). By county, 731,762 in Bergen County, 602,737 in Essex, 537,294 in Hudson, 391,225 in Morris, 364,597 in Passaic, 93,876 in Sussex, and 61,793 in Warren.
Booster Shots: 3,950,478 (2,175,422 Pfizer, 1,702,441 Moderna and 72,615 Johnson & Johnson)
