Children 5 to 11 years old are now eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 pediatric vaccine in Massachusetts, following approval from the Baker-Polito administration and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nov. 4.
Children will require two doses of the vaccine, spaced three weeks apart. They can get vaccinated at more than 500 locations statewide, according to a press release from the State Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
The free vaccines will be administered at retail pharmacies, primary care practices, community health centers, boards of health, regional collaboratives, mobile clinics, state vaccination sites and hospitals. Insurance or identification is not required.
Patricia Callan, Beverly resident and mother to a 6-year-old and 8-year-old, said she already has an appointment booked for their first vaccine this Saturday.
“We’re just so excited,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for it like everybody else for going on two years.”
Associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University, Paul Beninger, said the announcement was “great news.”
“It has, I think, an opportunity to be disproportionately beneficial,” he said.
Massachusetts remains one of the most vaccinated states, with 4.7 million people fully vaccinated and 92% of all adults partially or fully vaccinated, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services release. More than 80% of children between 12 and 17 years old are vaccinated.
Beninger said even if children are not as high-risk for becoming very ill from COVID-19 themselves, they can still spread it.
“[Children] are actually like a funnel from a school environment to home,” Beninger said. “So they’re actually potentially putting their families at risk more than even their own health.”
The Baker Administration said getting the vaccine “remains the most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves, their families, and their community,” the release states.
Beninger said his two granddaughters — who are 5 and 8 years old — already have their vaccine appointments. He added he felt “relieved” that they are now eligible.
“Children need to be protected, and we can’t protect them when they’re going to school,” he said. “This is a very effective way of actually protecting the individual child.”
Callan said she has preexisting conditions that put her more at risk of a serious case of COVID-19, so her children attended school from home last year.
With the difficulties of enforcing COVID-19 safety measures at schools, Callan said the vaccine “definitely” makes her feel a lot safer about sending them in person.
“There’s only really so much that can be done to protect them without the vaccine,” she said.
Callan said her children are “really excited” to get the vaccine so they can play with their friends inside as colder weather approaches, even though her older daughter is scared of shots.
“I wait [until] the last minute to tell her that she’s getting her flu shot so she doesn’t worry about it all week,” she said. “But this one was unequivocal. She’s so enthusiastic.”
The vaccine had a 90.7% efficacy rate of preventing COVID-19 in children 5 to 11 years old, according to the Federal Drug Administration press release. The safety was studied and verified in 3,100 children with no serious side effects detected.
“Parents should feel confident that we know a great deal about these vaccines,” Beninger said.
Low-sensory vaccinations are available at all state-supported vaccination clinics to help children with disabilities, the release said.
The governor’s administration has also partnered with the Discovery Museum in Acton, The Springfield Museums, Worcester’s Ecotarium and Boston’s Museum of Science as vaccination sites.
Callan said she doesn’t feel any hesitation towards the safety of the vaccine and she wants her children to be able to engage with their friends and others in the neighborhood again.
“I want them to feel and be part of the world again,” she said.
To book an appointment, parents can call their primary care provider, go online to VaxFinder or call the state COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Line, which is available in multiple languages and accessible by calling 2-1-1.