IWCS: interest strong but no clinics yet

 

Surry County Public Schools has partnered with the Crater Health District to host a Nov. 20 vaccination clinic, where students ages 5 and up can receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Surry County High School will host the clinic from 10 a.m. to noon at 1675 Hollybush Road, Dendron.

Second doses for students ages 12-18, seasonal flu shots and booster doses for SCPS faculty and staff will also be available. Parents who wish to vaccinate their children must download and sign a consent form, available in English and Spanish on the school system’s website, or register online at https://bit.ly/31SumOv (for ages 5-11) or https://bit.ly/3cv9Dmd (for ages 12 and up). Students ages 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian the day of the clinic.

As of just after 3:30 p.m. Nov. 16, there were 47 available COVID-19 vaccine appointments for ages 5-11 and another 48 for ages 12 and up.

Flu shots will be available in a limited quantity on a first-come, first-served basis.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave final clearance on Nov. 2 for the Pfizer vaccine’s use in children ages 5-11, four days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization. The pediatric vaccine is one-third the adult dosage.

The adult version received full FDA approval in August for ages 16 and up, and remains under emergency use authorization for ages 12-15. The pediatric and adult versions both require two doses administered at least 21 days apart.

Isle of Wight County Schools surveyed parents the first week of November to gauge interest in an in-school clinic for ages 5-11. According to IWCS spokeswoman Lynn Briggs, 300 parents preferred an evening clinic in a central location where parents could accompany their children, another 178 preferred in-school clinics with a parent present and 90 parents preferred in-school clinics without parents needing to accompany their children.

But no clinics have been scheduled yet.  Briggs attributed this to staffing shortages at Rite Aid, which had previously partnered with IWCS to vaccinate students ages 12 and up.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the adult COVID-19 vaccines are available only to SCPS faculty and staff.