Public Health to hold COVID vaccine clinics at local schools for students 5 and up
The Plumas County Public Health Agency will be conducting voluntary COVID-19 vaccination clinics in local schools from Nov. 15-18. The CDC and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workshop Group have approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for those ages 5-11; previously only those 12 and older could be vaccinated.
Plumas Unified School District Superintendent Terry Oestreich said that the dates were chosen to allow time for students to be fully vaccinated before the Christmas break. A second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is administered three weeks after the first, allowing another round of clinics to be scheduled.
The CDC recommends everyone ages 5 and older receive a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19, and although children are at a lower risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19 compared to adults, the CDC warns that children can
- Be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19
- Get very sick from COVID-19
- Have both short and long-term health complications from COVID-19
- Spread COVID-19 to others
COVID-19 vaccine dosage and administration for children and teens
- Adolescents ages 12 years and older receive the same dosage of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as adults.
- The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 through 11 years has the same active ingredients as the vaccine given to adults and adolescents. However, children ages 5 through 11 years cannot get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine given to adults and adolescents. In addition, children ages 5 through 11 years receive an age-appropriate dose that is one-third of the adult dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Smaller needles, designed specifically for children, are also used for children ages 5 through 11 years.
- Unlike many medications, COVID-19 vaccine dosage does not vary by patient weight but by age on the day of vaccination.
- Your child will need a second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks after their first shot.
