(Washington, DC) – On Friday, November 5, DC Health will host pop-up vaccine clinics for children ages 5-11 at two community centers: Takoma Community Center in Ward 4 (300 Van Buren Street NW) and Ft. Stanton Recreation Center in Ward 8 (1812 Erie Street SE). Parents or guardians can bring their children between the hours of 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to receive their first dose of the pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Parents who are unable to bring their child will have the option to print and sign a form allowing a trusted family member to accompany their child to the pop-up vaccine clinics; those forms will be made available on coronavirus.dc.gov.
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11 years old for Emergency Use Authorization. The vaccine is safe and lowers the chance of children getting and spreading COVID-19. The vaccine is 90% effective at preventing symptoms of COVID-19. Children 5-11 years old will receive a smaller dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine than adolescents and adults, approximately one-third the dose that people 12 and older get. Like the vaccine for people and 12 and older, children 5-11 will need to receive two doses of the vaccine taken three weeks apart.
In the coming days and weeks, the vaccine will be available at more than 60 pharmacies, hospitals, and health centers across all eight wards. As the District learns which sites have received their vaccine doses and started vaccinations, that information will be updated on coronavirus.dc.gov. Additionally, vaccines.gov will get updated with which sites have the pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.