WASHINGTON — The days of the mass vaccination site are over. That’s the animating energy behind the latest White House COVID vaccination plan, detailing how the administration will inoculate America’s 28 million kids between the ages of 5 and 11.
In short, as parents and public health officials prepare for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be authorized for young children – possibly by early November – the focus will shift to where families feel most comfortable bringing their kids for vaccination.
Rather than re-opening mass vaccination sites, smaller settings will be preferred. Trusted pediatricians’ offices, schools, community centers, pharmacies and more than 100 children’s hospitals will receive the initial shipment of 15 million doses, White House officials said.
“I’m the mom of a six-year-old, and I cannot wait until this takes place,” said Dr. Claire Boogaard, pediatrician and medical director of the COVID-19 vaccine program at Children’s National Hospital.
“We at Children’s National have this distribution model, where the main hospital gets the vaccine, and then we distribute it to our local pediatricians’ offices.”
Children’s National has 14 smaller practices spread across the Washington area – which will follow the administration’s blueprint of smaller sites being primary venues for children to get vaccinated.
“And then, the vaccine will be offered to any eligible in-patient, and anyone who is visiting certain specialists here at the hospital who has a high risk of having bad complications from the coronavirus itself,” Boogaard said.
While health officials hope to leave scenes of long lines at theme parks, hospitals, and stadiums in the past, Boogaard said the hospital will host a targeted, larger-scale vaccine clinic.
“But those will be invite-only to patients who are high-risk, based off their medical need,” she offered. “Or, based off of where they live, if it makes them at higher risk for contracting the disease.”
6-year-old Kasey Zachmann and her friends got an early start on trick-or-treating before she starts chemotherapy next week.