Pediatric COVID-19 vaccines are approved. When will Idaho appointments be available?
This story was updated at 10:26 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2021, to include information about appointments at pharmacies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11, but appointments in Idaho won’t be available immediately.
State health officials celebrated the news Tuesday as they held their media briefing. But COVID-19 vaccine appointments for children that young may not be available in Idaho until later this week or next week, said Sarah Leeds, immunization program manager, as it will take providers time to receive their inventory and train staff on pediatric administration.
Parents can schedule appointments to vaccinate their younger children at Walgreens by calling or visiting its website, Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine, using their ZIP code and children’s birth date. Both Walgreens and CVS appointments are available as early as Saturday. Rite Aid pharmacies on Thursday will also begin allowing appointments.
“This is a significant step forward in our ability to prevent COVID-19 illness in children,” Leeds said.
Idaho’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, which contain smaller doses than the shots used for those 12 and older, are being shipped to the state’s providers and public health districts. Leeds said 11,400 doses arrived Tuesday, while the remaining tens of thousands of what the state ordered are expected to arrive by Monday at the latest.
State public health officials on Tuesday encouraged parents to consider the vaccine for their kids, while emphasizing that children have seen an adverse complication as a result of COVID-19 infection.
Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist, said cases among children have decreased over the past few weeks but remain significantly higher than the peak seen over the summer. More than 250 Idaho children have been hospitalized for COVID-19, Turner said, and one-third of those hospitalizations occurred in the past three months.
Turner said 37 Idaho children have developed a post-infection complication, known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome or MIS-C, which causes organs in the body to become inflamed. The average age of Idaho children who developed the syndrome is 8, Turner added, and more than half with the syndrome became ill enough to be admitted into intensive care units.
“While things are looking up right now and we are seeing declines in cases, there’s certainly an opportunity for improvement and to provide additional protection to children and adolescents,” Turner said.
Dr. Lisa Barker, a pediatrician at St. Luke’s, said a 6-year-old boy she treated came into the hospital with a mild case of COVID-19. About four weeks later, he developed MIS-C — with “head-to-toe symptoms” that included a full-body rash, red eyes and a prolonged fever.
About 7-8% of children also develop long COVID-19, which means their symptoms last for four weeks or more, Barker said.
Leeds said parents should contact their children’s pediatrician or public health district, or visit vaccines.gov for more information on how to schedule an appointment.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 6:01 PM.
