Governor talks COVID-19 vaccines for 12+ and plans for $5 billion in federal aid
Governor Hutchinson talks about plans for American Rescue Plan funds.
Anxious Arkansas parents hoping to secure COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 12 and up have just a tiny bit longer to wait.
Governor Hutchinson announced Tuesday that we’re still waiting on guidance from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) before 12- to 15-year-olds can roll up their sleeves for a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine that’s been cleared for use in adolescents.
The advisory committee, chaired by Arkansas’s own
Dr. José Romero, is scheduled to meet on this issue tomorrow. In the meantime, Hutchinson said parents can go ahead and start scheduling appointments, keeping in mind that only the Pfizer version of the vaccine is cleared for use in young people (the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson versions of the vaccine are available in Arkansas but are not yet approved for young people). Call Arkansas’s COVID hotline at 1-800-803-7847 and real people will help you figure out the closest pharmacy or clinic where Pfizer shots are available.