BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Although the news many parents were waiting for came late Tuesday night — the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for administration to children ages 5-11 — parents in Florida will have to wait a bit longer for that opportunity.

In fact, a number of vaccine distributors in Brevard County said they aren’t able to even order the smaller-dose version of the vaccine yet.

The reason for the wait in Florida was not disclosed. Spectrum News 13 reached out by phone and email to the Florida Department of Health regarding the timing and distribution of the pediatric vaccines in the state but has not yet received a response.

“We will place an order as soon as we are able to do so,” Brevard County assistant Health Department director Anita Stremmel said.

The county Health Department plans to start with a 500-dose order and put in additional orders as inventory runs low. 

Some states prepositioned the vaccine to begin administration immediately. Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut began a vaccine clinic for children Tuesday night. Texas Children’s Hospital told CNN that it had nearly 37,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments scheduled through Thanksgiving week for the newly eligible 5- to 11-year-olds.

While parents in Brevard County wait for the pediatric vaccines to arrive, officials at some pharmacies, such as Palm Bay Pharmacy, said they are taking names and phone numbers of those interested and will notify them when the vaccine is available for their children. 

Another alternative is going to a national pharmacy, like CVS or Walgreens. 

In a statement to Spectrum News 13, a CVS spokesperson said that 1,700 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide would be administering the pediatric vaccine starting on Sunday, Nov. 7. That number includes 189 locations in Florida, and they are now accepting registration for appointments. 

The Walgreens website also indicated that the company is accepting pediatric vaccine appointments, which will begin on Saturday, Nov. 6. 

Once the Brevard County Health Department has the vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds, it will be offered at each of the county’s three vaccination sites.

It will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. in Viera and Titusville, and on Fridays only in Melbourne from 1-4 p.m. Information on pediatric vaccines will be updated on the department’s website soon to inform parents when the pediatric vaccine is available.

Similarly, OMNI Healthcare officials said they won’t be able to order the vaccine doses for 5- to 11-year-olds until Nov. 8, at the earliest. 

A Health First spokesperson told Spectrum News 13 that it is awaiting delivery of its first order of pediatric vaccines and “is preparing to administer them in the coming days.”  Once in house, Health First will offer the vaccine to children ages 5 to 11 both by appointment as well as walk-ins at the Health First COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at Health First Medical Rehabilitation. Health First Medical Group providers’ offices will not offer shots to pediatric patients.

One place in Brevard County where parents won’t find COVID vaccines is at schools. In a statement, Brevard County Public Schools officials said the district has not “held any vaccination events for any of our students and (they) do not see that changing. The decision to be vaccinated, or not, is a private, family decision.”

According to guidelines on the vaccine distribution, the pediatric vaccines come in a vial with an orange cap and label, compared to the doses for those 12 and older, which are purple. 

A dose for children is also smaller: 10 micrograms, compared to 30 micrograms for adolescents. The smaller doses help allow for more doses per vial, 10 in the vaccine vials for 5- to 11-year-olds, compared to six doses in vials for children 12 years old and up.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the current adult/adolescent formulation with the purple cap cannot be used to vaccinate children 5 to 11.

“Use of the current adult/adolescent formulation to prepare doses for children 5 to <12 years would result in an injection volume for the 10-microgram dose of 0.1 ml, which is both generally considered too small for typical IM injections and has not been studied.”