Looking to get your child vaccinated in King County? Expect a waitlist as supply will be limited in early weeks

Eager King County parents looking to get school-age children vaccinated against COVID-19 should be prepared for high levels of demand in the first few weeks.

Earlier this week, the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine was approved by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee, making over 180,000 children under the age of 12 in King County finally eligible to receive their shot. With shipments of the vaccine now on the way, King County expects to receive doses for 48,000 children in the first week, covering about a quarter of eligible children.

Vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 with the county are currently not available, but parents should expect those appointments to open within the next few days as the shipments arrive. Parents will also be able to register for a waitlist to receive a callback when appointments become available.

Public Health vaccination sites are unable to accommodate drop-in vaccinations.

King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said to expect a surge of people seeking the vaccine for their children in the coming weeks, making it harder to get an appointment. However, he doesn't expect a shortage of doses.

"I advise parents to not only check our King County sites, but vaccines will also be available in pharmacies community health centers and some health care providers are able to administer it, primarily some of the larger practices," said Dr. Duchin in a Thursday news briefing. "Keep looking, but understand that as with any roll out, demand often exceeds supply initially."

The pediatric vaccine contains the same active ingredients as the adult vaccine, but in a smaller dose. Children must receive two doses over a period of three weeks to be considered fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Pfizer's study found the vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19.

Although supply will be limited in the first few weeks, there is currently no prioritization scheme based on risk factors for childhood vaccination in King County. Duchin said that the county will work to ensure equitable access to the vaccine for areas in South King County which have been the most impacted by the pandemic.

It is currently unclear if the state Board of Health will require the vaccine for children attending school. Individual school districts in Washington do not have authority to impose vaccine requirements, although the Seattle School Board — the largest school district in the state — has expressed support for making a vaccine mandatory.

While acknowledging that parents might have some hesitancy, state health officials emphasized that the vaccine was the best protection against the virus. 

"It’s thrilling to know that the strongest form of protection is now available to school-aged kids—and that’s the vaccine," said State Secretary of Health Umair A. Shah in a news release Wednesday. "The more children who are vaccinated, the fewer outbreaks and cases we’ll see in the younger age groups and the less spread among their families."

For adults in Washington, booster doses are now recommended and widely available. Those who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine are recommended to receive a booster dose two months after completing their initial vaccination cycle, while those who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine should receive it six months after vaccination.