The DC Department of Health is hosting pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinics for children aged from five to 11 on Friday, November 5, following the approval of the vaccine by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for kids.
Vaccination will take place between 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm at Takoma Community Center in Ward 4, located at 300 Van Buren Street Northwest and Ft. Stanton Recreation Center in Ward 8, at 1812 Erie Street Southeast.
For the first dose of their pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, children can be brought by their parents, guardians, or a family member, who provides a form showing the consent of the parents that may be acquired from coronavirus.dc.gov as a printout. Three weeks later, vaccinated children will need to receive their second shot.
“The vaccine is safe and lowers the chance of children getting and spreading COVID-19,” the Office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a release, adding that the shot is 90 percent effective at preventing the infectious disease.
The dose that will be given to children is around one-third of the dose that those 12 and older receive, according to the release.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC approved the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11 for emergency use authorization on Tuesday, November 2.
Children’s National Anacostia has already started inoculating children within that age range.
Over 60 pharmacies, hospitals, and health centers around the District will make the kids’ vaccine available in the coming weeks.