MILWAUKEE — Local pharmacies and families are getting ready for when kids ages 5 to 11 can get vaccinated against COVID-19.
NBC News reports the White House told state governors Tuesday to start preparing for early November.
28 million kids could be eligible then, including Oscar Vargas and his sister, Kimberly.
"To help stop the spread of COVID-19," Oscar said.
The FDA will review Pfizer's data on Oct. 26.
For some parents like Alexandra Hamdan, that day can't come soon enough. She says her 9-year-old son has asthma, and she worries about him getting infected at school.
"It will be a relief to me, and I know it will be a relief to him," Hamdan said.
Over at Hayat Pharmacy, workers are getting ready for a rush of families waiting to get their shots.
Pfizer says kids ages 5 to 11 will get two shots 21 days apart, and each shot will be one-third of the dosage adults get.
"In each one of these vials it has 10 adult doses, and since the children's dose is one-third of adult dose, each vial can vaccinate 30 children," Hayat Pharmacy President Tamir Kaloti said.
Kaloti said they have been coordinating with organizations and schools, and they are planning some community clinics. Families will be able to walk in for vaccines seven days a week.
"In the early days of the vaccine, we were vaccinating 1,000 people a day, so we’re ready," Kaloti said.
According to Children's Wisconsin, the statewide hospitalization rate for kids with COVID-19 hit an all-time high in the last week of September. Doctors now report cases in kids throughout the state are flattening.
State data shows during the week of Oct. 3, close to 3,200 kids ages 17 and younger were infected with the virus.
"We are ready to go as soon as the FDA says we are ready to go," said Dr. Smriti Khare, the President of Primary Care at Children’s Wisconsin.
"As soon as it's available, we recommend everyone try to get it as soon as possible," Kaloti said. "To get us one step closer to getting out of the pandemic."