NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Children 5-11 years old are expected to have their first chance to get the COVID-19 vaccine starting Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
“Tomorrow, city-run vaccination sites in New York City will be providing the Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds,” said de Blasio. “Tomorrow is going to be a historic day for this city in our fight against COVID.”
City-run sites ready for Thursday include all NYC Health + Hospital locations, Health Department locations and some other clinics, Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said.
Walk-ins will be allowed — but health officials recommended getting an appointment to speed up the process.
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Chokshi added that the city has been working with nearly 1,500 pediatricians and family doctors to prepare them for the latest phase of the vaccine rollout, and that those will “ramp up” in the next few days.
Chokshi said they’re expecting CDC guidance that will allow the vaccinations to begin Thursday at some point Wednesday.
“It’s called their clinical considerations — it’s very important because that includes a number of the safety checklists and safety considerations that many providers will be looking for to make sure that they take every single step that’s necessary to ensure the safe vaccination of children,” said Chokshi.
The mayor also announced that beginning Monday, all city schools with students within the 5-11 age range will have a day next week where kids can get their COVID-19 shot.
That means nearly 1,110 school vaccination sites over the course of a few days during school hours. Officials said the kids either have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, or get verbal consent by phone. De Blasio said more details would come Thursday.
“Of course a lot of parents are going to go faster than that and go to our city-run sites … of course there a lot of parents who would rather go to their own pediatrician — all choices are good choices, but we want to make it available and easy for parents,” said de Blasio.
As the vaccine opens up to a new age group, officials said that 86% of New York City adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose, while 78% of children ages 12-17 have gotten one or more doses.
Chokshi estimated that vaccinating every New Yorker ages 5-11 would prevent 38,000 COVID-19 cases in the city alone.
De Blasio said there are no plans for a vaccine mandate for children to attend school in-person.
“I don't want that child penalized. I want that child to have an opportunity to get an education in-person and all the other support in the school community, same with the five to 11-year-olds. I don't see anything changing that,” said de Blasio.
The CDC gave the final OK for kid-size doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and partner BioNTech late Tuesday.
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