N.C. COVID-19 vaccination rate remains low for kids 5-11

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The Food and Drug Administration could authorize the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6 and the Pfizer vaccine for children under 5 as early as Friday.

Related: FDA advisers endorse 1st COVID-19 shots for kids under 5

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is already preparing for possible vaccinations next week, but will parents actually get their youngest children vaccinated?

Only about 4% of N.C. children 5 to 11 years old are fully vaccinated, and of those about 5% have gotten a booster.

Booster shots have been available to children in that age bracket for nearly a month; the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came May 19.

Younger people are much less likely to have been either partially or fully vaccinated than those who are older.

Full vaccination rates range from 98% for North Carolinians over age 75 to just 25% for the youngest eligible.

Wake County has the highest vaccination rates with 80%, while Mecklenburg County is next with just over 68%.

With kids wrapping up the school year and parents scheduling physicals for the next school year, doctors hope the pace picks up.

“I think that you’ll see over time, more and more kids getting their boosters,” Dr. Erica Pettigrew, with the UNC School of Medicine, said. When the FDA authorizes them for the youngest children, all local health departments will get the vaccine, along with about 300 pediatric offices.

Pharmacies will get them for children 3 years and older.

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