California officials prepare to vaccinate children age 5-11

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Public health departments across California are gearing up to administer coronavirus vaccines to children ages 5 to 11 in the coming weeks and officials say they are planning "family-friendly" events — including at schools — to persuade parents and guardians to get their kids vaccinated.

The White House on Wednesday detailed plans for the expected authorization of the Pfizer shot for elementary school youngsters in a matter of weeks. Federal regulators will meet over the next two weeks to weigh the safety and effectiveness of giving low-dose shots to the roughly 28 million children in that age group.

Within hours of formal approval, which is expected after the Food and Drug Administration signs off and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel meets on Nov. 2-3, millions of doses will begin going out to providers across the country, along with the smaller needles needed for injecting young children.

State officials are planning to use school clinics, in addition to other sites, to administer vaccines to youths, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The state also plans to continue masking requirements in K-12 schools. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced earlier this month that California would have the nation’s first coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren — about 6.7 million public and private school students in the nation’s most populous state — once the federal government has finished fully vetting the shots.

California has one of the highest vaccine rates in the country, but a vocal minority skeptical of both the vaccine and the government’s assurances of its safety. Last month, more than a thousand people gathered at the state Capitol to protest vaccine mandates.

In Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous with 10 million...