Children ages 5 to 11 are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
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Seattle Public Schools has teamed up with King County to open 54 clinics across the region that will administer COVID-19 vaccines to young students now that children ages 5-11 have been approved to receive the shot.
Last week, the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine was approved by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee, which means the 180,000 children under the age of 12 in King County are finally eligible to be immunized against the coronavirus. The county received an estimated 48,000 initial doses.
To streamline the vaccination process for children, Seattle Public Schools opened 40 in-school vaccination clinics for students that began administering doses Monday. The clinics will only be administering first doses through Nov. 23. The clinics will be administering second doses from Nov. 29 through Dec. 14.
A list of the schools administering the vaccine can be found on the district’s website.
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Clinic hours vary between schools, so make sure to check them ahead of time. A child receiving a vaccine in school during school hours needs to be enrolled in that specific school.
A child can get the shot without a parent or guardian present as long as a consent form is signed ahead of time; parents or guardians can also give verbal consent to a school nurse. The district is working with three different providers who each require different consent forms, so parents will need to get in touch with a school ahead of time to figure out which form is needed.
Because these clinics will be held during school hours, parents or guardians taking their child to an in-school clinic will need to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or submit a negative test taken within the past 72 hours to enter.
The county also opened 14 regional clinics for students who wish to receive their vaccine in the evening or on weekends. These clinics are also being held inside Seattle schools, but a student does not need to be enrolled in that specific school to get a shot. Students receiving vaccines at these clinics need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
A list of the regional clinics and their hours can be found here.
The shots are free and do not require health insurance.
