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MCPHD to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5-11 as soon as Thursday

The vaccine for kids will be offered at the existing District Health Office vaccine clinics and at the ACTION Health Center.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Public Health Department said it will offer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5-11 as soon as Thursday, Nov. 4.

The announcement comes one day after the final approval from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

The vaccine for kids will be offered at the existing District Health Office vaccine clinics and at the ACTION Health Center. Walk-ins are welcome, and those older than 11 can still get their COVID-19 vaccine at the clinics. Click here if you'd like to pre-register.

“The circulation of the delta variant has made it more important than ever to protect our children with the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Virginia Caine, M.D., Director and Chief Medical Officer of MCPHD. “I encourage any hesitant parents to do their homework by reading about the vaccine and approval process from reputable sources like our local media partners, and talk to their pediatrician about the benefits and risks of the COVID vaccine for their child.”

The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 — doses just a third of the amount given to teens and adults — but the CDC recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines.

The announcement by Walensky came only hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer’s shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group.

Millions of shots made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have already been shipped to states, doctors’ offices and pharmacies, to be ready for CDC's decision.

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The vaccine requires two doses three weeks apart, plus two more weeks for full protection to kick in. That means children who get vaccinated before Thanksgiving will be covered by Christmas.

A Pfizer study of 2,268 children found the vaccine was almost 91% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections. The FDA examined 3,100 vaccinated kids in concluding the shots are safe.

Since the pandemic began, at least 94 children aged 5 to 11 have died from COVID-19, more than 8,300 have been hospitalized and over 5,000 have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus. 

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