More than 600,000 kids ages 12 to 15 were vaccinated against COVID-19 less than a week after the CDC recommended Pfizer's vaccine for the age group, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, said during a May 18 White House news briefing.
In total, more than 3.5 million people under age 18 have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Dr. Walensky said.
Though severe cases of COVID-19 are not very common in younger populations, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recorded more than 3.9 million cases among US. children, about 14 percent of total infections in the country, The Hill reported.
The White House is urging eligible young people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, in part to aid in a safe return to in-person schooling this fall.
About 56 percent of the U.S. population ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 44 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Sixty percent of people ages 18 and older in the U.S. have gotten at least one dose, with almost 48 percent fully vaccinated.