San Francisco Health Officials Say Children Aged 5-11 Will Soon Have to Comply With the City’s Proof of Vaccine Requirements

Officials in San Francisco have announced that children aged 5-11 will soon be required to comply with San Francisco’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements to visit facilities like restaurants or entertainment venues.

According to SFGATE, the San Francisco Department of Health and the University of California San Francisco Division of General Pediatrics organized a town hall meeting on Tuesday to examine the vaccine’s usage for children aged 5 to 11. During the discussion, city health officer Dr. Susan Philip indicated that kids would ultimately be required to comply with the city’s vaccination mandate.

Philip stated during the town hall, “We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated. That will happen no sooner than about eight weeks after the vaccine is available to kids.” She also explained that “at some point, 5-to-11-year-olds” will need to produce proof of vaccination to enter indoor venues.

On August 12, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that effective August 20, the city would require people to show proof of vaccination to enter locations including restaurants, bars, gyms, health clubs, and large-scale events.

On September 28, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted data to the FDA regarding the vaccine’s efficacy. The companies claimed that the vaccination “elicited robust neutralizing antibody response” in a trial of 2,268 children.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the final approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to children aged 5 to 11. Before the CDC’s final clearance of the vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use as a two-shot regimen with three weeks between each dose.

The vaccine had already received complete approval for people aged 16 and above in August.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on October 1 that, pending final clearance from the FDA, kids in the state would be mandated to get the COVID-19 vaccination to attend school. The Los Angeles Unified School District announced this week that its school vaccination mandate will not yet include children aged 5 to 11.

However, children aged 12 to 15 are included in the requirement for LAUSD, despite the Pfizer vaccine not being fully authorized for that age range. In San Francisco, vaccines are not yet required for children to attend school.

Approximately 73% of people in the state have gotten two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or are considered completely vaccinated, while 8%  have been deemed partly vaccinated.

News of the requirements for children comes on the heels of Pfizer announcing its sales forecast for the end of 2021 into 2022 and its plans to seek more government contracts.

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