CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccine equity is when all people who are eligible ─ including children ─ have fair and just access to COVID-19 vaccination. Expanding the vaccination recommendation to children ages 5 through 11 years now paves the way for 28 million more children to receive the vaccine.
We know some children will face barriers to receiving COVID-19 vaccines. On this page, learn what work is currently being done and get resources to improve vaccine access in your community.
chevron right icon Learn more about barriers to equity in childhood COVID-19 vaccination.
How CDC is Helping Get COVID-19 Vaccines to Children
- Making sure vaccines are available in convenient places and at different times of the day and evening.
- Tracking vaccination trends among children of different ages, genders, racial and ethnic groups, and geographic regions to rapidly identify places where more efforts are needed.
- Sharing health information that is culturally and linguistically appropriate through trusted messengers, such as faith-based and community leaders.
- Funding partners working to build vaccine confidence by offering vaccines and communicating with parents in community spaces like community clinics, libraries, and children’s museums.
- Funding Prevention Research Centers to implement and evaluate programs training pediatric primary care professionals to communicate with parents about COVID-19 vaccination and empower youth to serve as COVID-19 vaccine ambassadorsexternal icon with their peers.
What Communities Can Do to Improve Equity in Childhood Vaccination
Partner with community providers to administer COVID-19 vaccines to children.
- Pediatricians are often the ones who vaccinate children, and many do this through the federally funded Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. However, pediatricians aren’t not the only providers who can vaccinate children.
- In many areas, pharmacies and community clinics—such as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)external icon, rural health clinics, and community health centers—also administer vaccines to children, and some of these are also VFC providers.
- Many schools and school districts partner with health departments, pharmacies, and other healthcare providers to hold vaccine clinics in schools to vaccinate children and families of schoolchildren who may not otherwise have access.
- Community organizations, including faith-based organizations, can serve as an informational resource to help families find community-based vaccination sites.
Children’s Vaccine Equity in Action
Source: cdc
