Frederick County Health Department shares details on COVID vaccination clinics for children 5-11

Angela Roberts, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Nov. 3—One day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared the way for children 5 to 11 to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Frederick County Health Department shared more information Wednesday for where this age group will be able to get the shot in the county.

The health department will be holding its first vaccination clinics for kids ages 5 to 11 on Nov. 13 from 2-5 p.m. at 800 Oak Street in Frederick and on Nov. 20 from 2-5 p.m. at the same location, according to a news release. More clinics will be posted as they are scheduled at frederickcountymd.gov/covidvaccine. Appointments are required.

Frederick County Public Schools plans to soon distribute details about clinics set to be held at elementary schools in the county through the Find Out First email alert system.

The health department also encouraged parents to check with their pediatricians on scheduling an appointment at their child's "medical home." More vaccine clinic options are listed at marylandvax.org and vaccines.gov.

All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to receive their COVID-19 vaccination, according to the health department. Vaccines are free, and insurance is not required.

Since the COVID-19 vaccine dose for kids 5 to 11 is different from the dose for people 12 years and older, vaccinations for these two age groups will not be delivered at the same location for safety reasons.

Currently, only the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has emergency use authorization to be delivered to children ages 5 to 11. A vaccine has not yet been approved for children 4 years and younger.

Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday detailed the outreach efforts to the 515,000 newly eligible Maryland children.

State health officials placed an initial order of 180,000 vaccine doses, which began arriving directly from Pfizer earlier this week. The state will receive additional allocations in the coming weeks.

All local school systems across the state have agreed to facilitate clinics in coordination with local health departments. Maryland health officials also have worked with the state's pediatric advisory group to enable pediatricians and family physicians to provide vaccines in their offices. The state's pharmacies also will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines for children.

The state also is deploying the Vaccine Equity Task Force to ensure equitable access for families in underserved communities and hard to reach areas, the governor's office said.

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