06/22/22 Health Advisory: COVID-19 Vaccine for Children as Young as 6 Months

| June 22, 2022
  • Be aware, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup concluded COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for children as young as 6 months.
    • Available to children 6 months to 4 years old: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, in a 3-dose primary series.
      • Be sure to review dosage and vial labeling information.
    • Available to children 6 months to 5 years old: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, in a 2-dose primary series.
  • Baby pediatric COVID-19 vaccine deliveries are delayed. We expected wave 1 orders June 20 but received no Pfizer and limited Moderna. We received word more pre-orders will arrive soon.
    • Wave 1 delivery delays will cause delays for waves 2 and 3 and additional orders placed this week.
    • Continue to check Immunization Information System (IIS) for updated tracking information. Once the information is available, update Vaccine Locator.
  • We will begin vaccinating children 6 months to 5 years old at select Health Department immunization sites June 22.
  • Increase access to Evusheld COVID-19 pre-exposure prophylaxis for people 12 years or older who weigh at least 88 pounds (40 kg) and:
  • To administer Evusheld, enroll in Healthcare Partner Ordering Portal (HPoP). For help, email mcm@doh.wa.gov.
  • To refer a patient to a provider who administers Evusheld, fax a referral to Birds Eye Medical at (360) 878-8330. Patients will be directed to a Wednesday specialty clinic at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way.

Vaccine

Testing

Processing times

Labs report varying amounts of time to process COVID-19 tests. To support faster turnaround, we encourage providers to use in-state labs. The table below shows COVID-19 test processing times for in-state private labs. If you have questions about Health Department-facilitated antigen tests, contact epitesting@tpchd.org.

Lab Time to process test Tests processed daily
FidaLab 24 hours 200
Kaiser 24–48 hours 3,000
LabCorp 24–48 hours Unknown
Northwest Pathology 24–48 hours 4,000
Quest 24–48 hours 700
UW Virology 24–72 hours 4,500
Atlas Genomic 24–48 hours 10,000

Therapeutics

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocates monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals to each state. DOH distributes doses to enrolled providers. Providers must enroll to order therapies in HPoP to manage COVID-19 therapies. For help, email mcm@doh.wa.gov.

Additional information

Prevention

Share with patients:

Reporting

  • Cases in the following people—call (253) 649-1412.
    • Healthcare workers (e.g., EMS, medical, nursing, any healthcare facility employee).
    • Public safety workers (e.g., law enforcement, firefighter).
    • Live or work in a long-term care facility, senior living center, permanent supportive housing or similar congregate setting (e.g., shelter, correctional facility) housing people at high risk of severe outcomes.
    • Anyone who dies with COVID-19.
    • Anyone with suspected MIS-C.
  • All other cases—fax the following to (253) 649-1357 or call (253) 649-1413.
    • Patient—first name, last name, date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, preferred language, phone number, address and zip code.
    • Specimen—collection date and type (NP, nasal swab, blood, etc.).
    • Test—type (PCR, NAAT, antigen, antibody/serology) and result (detected, not detected, inconclusive).
    • Ordering facility.
  • For all cases, report the person’s race, ethnicity and preferred language.

Contacting the Health Department

  • Urgent issues—call (253) 649-1412.
  • Non-urgent issues—call (253) 649-1413 and leave a message. Includes reporting notifiable conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Leave the patient’s name, date of birth and disease.

Additional resources