What you should know
- The vaccination campaign in New York City schools with children ages 5 to 11 in more than 1,000 buildings across the city began Monday and runs through November 15. No appointments are needed, but children permission from a guardian or parent.
- Verbal consent can also be provided over the phone, the mayor said. It is just one of several vaccination options to encourage parents to dose their children and be protected in time for Christmas.
- Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that more than 4,500 children ages 5 to 11 were vaccinated on the first day of the school campaign.
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More than 4,500 New York City students ages 5 to 11 were vaccinated on the first day of the school campaign across the city. After stp, the total number of vaccinated minors in this age group has risen to 24,000 since the end of last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.
That’s about 3.6% of New York City’s estimated 660,000 children at that age, authorities said, and a critical number considering the city’s vaccination sites didn’t even start offering the Pfizer regimen to them until on Thursday, just 36 hours after the CDC gave its go-ahead.
The number is expected to increase considerably over the course of the next few days, with approximately 200 sites emerging per day in the city’s public schools serving that age group through Monday, November 15. In total, around 1,070 schools will host vaccination sites.
De Blasio announced Tuesday that 24 new mobile vaccine sites would be placed outside of schools to help meet demand. More vaccines have also been added.
Several parents experienced significant lines early Monday, and at least one school ran out of vaccinations before all interested children could get their dose. The city has said it will redistribute Pfizer doses as needed to meet changes in demand.
The Department of Education has gone to great lengths this week to give all students ages 5 and up the opportunity to get vaccinated. Children must have a parent or guardian with them when they are vaccinated at school.
Verbal consent can also be provided over the phone, although some schools may require in-person supervision on a case-by-case basis. Click here to find the consent form, the list of school vaccine sites and when they open.
The school vaccination campaign will not be repeated for three weeks, when children who receive their first doses this week need to receive their second injections to complete their vaccination series.
When asked if he is concerned that children will only receive one dose out of the two-dose series due to the nature of emerging vaccine sites, de Blasio has said he is confident that parents will follow up on the second injection in another. place.
If demand for second injections in schools is higher than expected, he said the city will reevaluate. It’s just another convenient option, officials say, and there are plenty of others if this one doesn’t work for everyone.
Parents can now take their children to receive the Pfizer vaccine at city-run vaccine sites, where their children meet the $ 100 incentive requirement. Also at pharmacies and private providers. Appointments are recommended, but not required. Walk-ins are accepted.
Across the state, Governor Kathy Hochul said more than 350 New York school districts have already indicated that they plan to host immunization events for children ages 5 to 11.
The Biden administration also plans to send a letter to U.S. elementary schools in the next week asking them to host clinics, while his Department of Education urges schools to host town halls and webinars where parents can speak. with the doctors.
For now, the governor hopes to rely primarily on pediatric offices to carry out most of the vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11, given the trust factor and relationship with individual families and their larger communities. She says she could easily go back to expanding mass vaccination sites, but she doesn’t expect that demand to exist.
“I think most parents will feel more comfortable in a place where they know the person administering the vaccine, especially for younger children … so we’ll let the pediatrician’s offices handle this for now,” Hochul said He added that he anticipates schools will also be an important part of the equation.
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