FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 20, 2022
CONTACT: Chris Boyle, Director of Communications
(860) 706-9654 – christopher.boyle@ct.gov
HARTFORD, Conn—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Health and Human Services has approved a vote conducted on Wednesday by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the Vaccines for Children program (VFC).
I want to stress that this vote does not create a mandate for COVID-19 vaccines for children to attend school. This is a recommendation that is part of the standard process for every routine childhood vaccine that is covered under the VFC program.
This vote simply means that once COVID-19 vaccines are commercialized and no longer available under the Federal Government’s National COVID-19 Response, VFC providers will be able to order the vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program.
Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all ages and populations remains critically important. The VFC program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children who might not otherwise be vaccinated due to an inability to pay. The Connecticut Department of Public Health encourages parents to vaccinate their children 6 months through 17 years old for COVID-19. Updated boosters for eligible children 5 years of age and older also should be administered at least two months following primary vaccination.
Respiratory viruses circulate during the colder months and with people spending more time indoors, now is the time to receive an extra level of protection which targets these variants and prevents transmission of this virus. Parents can make an appointment with their child’s pediatrician or visit www.vaccines.gov to find a provider.
Additionally, immunizations are safe and highly effective at protecting children from vaccine preventable illnesses, Vaccines prevent children from getting infections in school and from spreading them to their families and other children, including children with medical conditions that make them more susceptible to severe illness from diseases such as influenza, measles and whooping cough.
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