LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Preparations have been made as Norton Children’s gears up for vaccination sites to be ready for 12 to 15 year olds.
What You Need To Know
- Around 3,000 children ages 12 to 15 have been preregistered with Norton Children's to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine now that it's fully approved by the CDC
- Vaccine appointments are currently available for those ages 16 and up
- Children must have guardian present to give consent to Pfizer vaccine
- Any of the 6 Norton Vaccination sites can administer vaccine doses to 12 to 15 year-olds
Tomorrow is when appointments will be available to anyone over the age of 12.
Over 3,000 people preregistered online with Norton Healthcare to be notified when appointments became available for 12 to 15 year olds to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Craig Johnson said it shows there is interest from families in the community.
“Hopefully it’s a sign that this community wants to continue to get vaccinated," Johnson said.
In addition to the Norton Healthcare/Norton Children’s Vaccine Clinic in St. Matthews, two new child vaccination sites will be at the Novak Center in downtown Louisville and another at the Norton Children’s Medical Center in Brownsboro.
Johnson wanted to let families know that vaccines would be available to children at any of the Norton vaccine sites.
“So we will have 6 sites in total. We will be able to vaccinate, right now we think up to 10,000 appointments a week will be available for all of our patients, anyone over the age of 12 and above,” Johnson said.
Setting up a vaccine appointment for a child is very similar to the process for adults. Johnson also walked us through what families can expect on Thursday.
“A parent brings their child in [and] they will be asked for consent. We do require for anyone 12-17 to have a parent or legal guardian with them,” he added.
The process will also take the same amount of time for a child to get immunized.
“They will come in. They will register. They will go to one of our vaccine stations and wait 15 minutes,” he said.
Johnson said experts believe that having the vaccine accessible to children will provide an opportunity for adults to get a dose.
“We have seen some of our numbers slow down in adults so we hope this is a good opportunity for if you are bringing your child with you to get vaccinated, you can get vaccinated as well,” Johnson said.
Before registering online or calling, Johnson advises parents to speak with their pediatrician about the vaccine if they have questions or concerns.
Norton Healthcare will host a Facebook Live on Thursday featuring two experts in pediatric care and infectious disease to help parents get answers to important questions regarding the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds.