INDIANAPOLIS (Network Indiana): Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb anticipates coronavirus vaccines getting full approval by the FDA for kids between age 5 and 11 next week, and while he is urging parents who have kids in that age group to get their children vaccinated, he adds he does not want to mandate it.

“The information is compelling. Mitigation efforts work and there is no greater mitigation effort than being vaccinated,” Holcomb said in a news briefing this week.

The federal government is expected to release millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids across the country next week. Indiana is expected to get about 200,000 of those doses.

President Biden and his administration could issue new vaccine mandates if vaccines are fully approved by the FDA, but Holcomb says he’s still waiting to hear about that. He’s not sure what the federal government will do in terms of mandates, dosage amounts, and other factors.

“These are some of the questions that we are asking the administration about how practically we can do this. What load can they handle? How does it happen? Where does it happen? How long do they have to administer it? These are all questions that we all need answers to,” said Holcomb.

If the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approves COVID-19 vaccines for kids aged 5-11, the vaccines could be rolled out as early as next week.

The Indiana Department of Health also plans on opening an additional 1,300 vaccination sites. To find a vaccination site near you, go to coronavirus.in.gov.