Kids 5 and up get shots in tests for COVID vaccine

Tests of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine started Monday in Louisiana have started for children ages 5 through 11

NEW ORLEANS -- Seven-year-old Russell Bright squeezed his dad’s hand tightly as tests of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine started Monday in Louisiana for children ages 5 through 11. Children held stuffed animals, played under chairs and a few cried at Ochsner Medical Center, just outside New Orleans. Their temperature and blood pressure were checked, their noses swabbed and their blood drawn for tests. Finally, they got a shot of either the vaccine or a placebo. Ochsner is among 98 facilities in 26 states, the District of Columbia, Finland, Poland and Spain where the tests are taking place or planned. Families won’t know for six months whether their children actually were vaccinated. At that point, children who didn't get the vaccine will have the chance to do so.