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Vaccination Nation: Shots for tots and the ebbing omicron wave

Access to vaccines for kids is expanding as new cases of Covid-19 as well as hospitalizations slow. COVID-19 deaths continue to rise.
Access to vaccines for kids is expanding as new cases of Covid-19 as well as hospitalizations slow. COVID-19 deaths continue to rise.

More Americans are gaining access to the COVID-19 vaccine, even as some continue to refuse the shots.

Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve its two-dose regimen for kids under five, taking them one step closer to being able to get vaccinated. That could happen as soon as March according to Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner and current Pfizer board member.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company Novavax is asking the FDA to authorize its protein-based vaccine. It uses a more conventional method to block the virus than the mRNA technology of the other vaccines.

Still, much of the country remains unvaccinated. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III sent a letter to a handful of Republican governors rejecting their requests for exemptions to vaccine mandates for National Guard members. Protestors gathered in Washington D.C. in opposition to the vaccine and podcaster Joe Rogan is facing backlash for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

We talk about the latest vaccine news and answer your questions.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Avery Kleinman