By Barrett J. Brunsman
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has received its first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine manufactured in the dosage recommended to safeguard 5- to 11-year-old children against COVID-19. The medical center began vaccinating kids that age on Nov. 3.
Patty Manning, MD, chief of staff at Cincinnati Children’s, said the medical center received a large shipment of the vaccine for younger kids on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 2, from Pfizer. Additional shipments have been ordered and are expected to arrive soon.
Cincinnati Children’s began inoculating 5- to 11-year-olds against COVID at the medical center’s vaccine clinic on the Avondale campus on Nov.3. More than 500 children were vaccinated at the hospital on Saturday, Nov. 6.
In the coming days, Cincinnati Children’s will also offer COVID vaccine to 5- to -11-year-olds at other locations, including the Liberty Campus in Butler County, at the Green Township outpatient center, the Hopple Street Health Center, and at Cincinnati Children’s primary care offices.
Appointments are preferred. Parents may request an appointment via this link: Schedule a Vaccination | Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccines (cincinnatichildrens.org). Demand is expected to be heavy, so parents are urged to check back via the website in the coming days if initial time slots fill. Parents also can check with their pediatrician’s office.
“Parents have been really looking forward to this,” Manning said. “We’re all so excited that this long- awaited day is finally here. There will be many opportunities to get vaccinated in the coming days and weeks – through either our clinics or your child’s own primary care physician in Greater Cincinnati.”
Manning noted that some parents might be hesitant to have younger children vaccinated, but she offered assurance that the Pfizer vaccine is safe. Side effects, if any, tend to be mild and last a day or two.
“I can appreciate the seriousness with which families make this decision, especially for younger children,” Manning said. “We’re so fortunate at Cincinnati Children’s to have had a front-row seat to the development of this vaccine because of clinical trials that we conducted with the help of hundreds of children and adults in Greater Cincinnati. These studies have shown the vaccine to be safe and effective, and so we are confident that this is the right choice to keep your child safe, to keep your family members safe, and to protect our community.”
