OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — The Pfizer vaccine for children between the ages of 5-11 has been approved by the CDC. Now, focus turns to the distribution of the shots.
Douglas County Health Director Dr. Lindsay Huse says we have seen a major uptick in positive cases in children in Douglas County.
The biggest increase is for kiddos between the ages of five and nine.
Dr. Huse says DCHD likely will not be able to provide the vaccine for a week or two because they don’t have the shots yet, as these doses are a third of the size of a normal dose.
However, once they do get the supply, they are already coming up with plans to get it out to the community.
“We are working currently with schools, we are working with pediatricians, we are working with our community partners, to best optimize how we can best get our 5-11 crowd vaccinated,” Dr. Huse said. “So, all of those plans are ongoing.”
Dr. Huse says they are expecting to receive 20,000 doses from the state to start with. That number covers roughly one-third of the age group in Douglas County, with more eventually on the way.
Children's Hospital says they preordered the doses and the shipment should be on the way. The shipping window they were given was between this Thursday, November 4th, and Tuesday, November 9th. They hope to be able to start administering it by the end of the week or weekend. Until they have the order, they will not take appointments.
Once received they will be opening clinics at West Village Pointe and Spring Valley to cover both the east and west sides of town.
They say it couldn't have come at a better time.
"We've seen an elementary school that has closed this week due to an outbreak of cases, we've seen a big increase in pediatric cases over the last couple of weeks,” Children’s Hospital’s Melissa St. Germain M.D. said. “Getting these two COVID vaccines in and done before we hit Christmas will be really important to keep everyone protected. Both the kids themselves and the family members who may be more susceptible to severe illness."
Methodist Hospital says they expect to administer the vaccine for the age group in a week or two.
Hy-Vee, CVS, Walgreen's, and Kohll’s Pharmacy will all be administering the vaccine as well once their shipments arrive. However, they will only be accepting appointments at the start but will have more availability to walk-ins once they receive more of the supply.
