Here’s where Californians can book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for people 12 and older
People ages 12 to 15 looking to get a COVID-19 vaccination can start scheduling their appointment now.
CVS Health will be scheduling vaccinations for youths starting Wednesday — and will be giving the shots as early as Thursday at 565 pharmacies around California.
The company released the news after a key panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the agency sign off on giving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to children in this age group. The vaccines already were available to people ages 16 and older.
“With every new wave of eligibility, our teams have worked around the clock to ensure vaccine access as soon as possible,” said Karen Lynch, president and chief executive officer of, CVS Health. “Offering vaccinations to younger populations at thousands of locations across the country brings us one step closer to prevailing over the pandemic.”
Leaders of the California Department of Public Health said Tuesday that the myturn.ca.gov site would allow parents and guardians to get their children registered as early as Thursday.
Several school districts in the Sacramento area also announced vaccine clinics:
Twin Rivers Unified plans one from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Sacramento’s Foothill High School, 5000 McCloud Drive, as part of its continuing partnership with the Del Paso Heights Vaccination Clinic. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/VaccinePopUp.
Folsom Cordova Unified will have provide first doses Saturday and the second on June 5 in the auxiliary gym at Cordova High, 2239 Chase Drive, in Rancho Cordova. Sign up at www.cosumnesfirecovidprogram.org/.
Natomas Unified is offering appointments for 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Natomas High School, 3301 Fong Ranch Road, in Sacramento. Go online to www.signupgenius.com/go/nusdcovidvax5_15_21 to apply.
Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, said the move brings the nation “one critical step closer” to widespread immunization, and she said the nation’s largest physician group continues to urge Americans to be vaccinated when they become eligible.
“Adolescents 12 years of age and up are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and can contribute to transmission of COVID-19 to others,” Bailey said in a Wednesday statement. “Having safe and effective vaccine available to this age group will help them return to normal activities and help protect more people from the spread of COVID-19.”
A leading physician at St. Jude’s Research Hospital for Children in Memphis, Tenn., which treats many of the nation’s most vulnerable children, urged parents to get their kids immunized as soon as they become eligible.
Dr. Miguela Caniza, director of the St. Jude Global Infectious Diseases Program, said: “Children and teenagers are highly mobile populations attending schools, sports, extracurricular activities and intersecting more often with various age groups including caretakers and older family members. Because of the high percent of children and teenagers being asymptomatic or with minimal symptoms, most likely they will be effectively spreading during a very contagious period, and even more so, if they don’t follow the standard precautions.”
Those precautions include remaining six feet from others, wearing masks and washing or sanitizing their hands frequently, she said.
In the CVS news release issued Wednesday, company officials said their company had administered more than 17 million shots nationwide in retail stores and in long-term care facilities. The company operates more than 9,600 drugstores across the United States.
Roughly half of the company’s 1,150 sites stock the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, CVS officials stated, so it’s best for parents to schedule the shot online at cvs.com.
