COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5-11 are anticipated for final approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the very near future, according to the Webster County Health Department.

As of printing, that approval has not yet been finalized. Webster County Health Department is in the planning phase for upcoming Pfizer clinics for children ages 5-11 who would qualify for vaccination. Until the time that final approval has been announced by the FDA and vaccine supply has been distributed, WCHD will continue to plan and will not be taking appointments.

Vaccination against COVID-19 continues to be extremely important. In the past seven days, 65 residents tested positive (5 percent positivity rate). While this is a decline from past weeks, the majority of those testing positive were younger (22 percent ages 0-17, 23 percentages 18-29, 22 percent ages 30-39.)

WCHD recommends getting a COVID-19 vaccine for your child as soon as you can.

• COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

• COVID-19 vaccines have been used under the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history, which includes studies in adolescents.

• Your child will need a second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine three weeks after their first shot.

• Children and adolescents receive the same dosage of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as adults. There are no patient weight requirements for COVID-19 vaccination, and COVID-19 vaccine dosage does not vary by patient weight.

• Your child can’t get COVID-19 from any COVID-19 vaccine.

Webster County COVID-19 statistics reported

Over the past seven days there have been 65 positive COVID-19 cases reported in Webster County, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

That is down from the 86 cases reported by the state agency in the prior seven day period.

The Department of Public Health reported that in the most recent seven day period, 5 percent of the COVID-19 tests administered were positive.

The department’s statistics continue to show that the new cases are largely among younger people. Those statistics show that 23 percent of the new cases are in people age 18 to 29.

Those age 17 and younger and those age 30 to 39 each account for 22 percent of the new cases.

Since the pandemic began there have been 7,297 COVID-19 cases in Webster County.

The Department of Public Health reported that there have been 111 deaths in the county due to COVID-19.

Statistics on the state’s coronavirus web site show that 63.2 percent of the county’s residents who are eligible for a vaccine are fully vaccinated.