Shortly after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's immunization advisory committee voted Wednesday to approve the use of the Pfizer vaccine on the younger age group, the city of Long Beach announced it would begin offering the shot to those aged 12 to 15 starting Thursday.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also quickly cleared its sites and other providers in the county to begin offering the inoculations starting Thursday. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said there are about 500,000 county residents aged 12 to 15.
"It is a key group of individuals for us to reach so that we can increase our coverage in terms of the county's total population," Ferrer said Thursday.