Contra Costa Health Services and Kaiser Permanente began hosting free COVID-19 vaccine clinics at school campuses across the county this week to make vaccines more readily available for residents under 18.
The clinics, which opened Tuesday at Antioch Middle School and Concord High School, will rotate to middle and high schools around the county over the next two months now that children ages 12-15 are eligible.
The clinics will also offer vaccinations to parents and other community members who have yet to get their shot. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine will be offered at all school clinics, as it is currently the only vaccine approved for teenagers.
“It can be really hard to find a convenient time or a location to get vaccinated, especially for families with kids,” county Board of Supervisors Chair Diane Burgis said Wednesday.
The school clinics, like every other vaccine clinic operated by Contra Costa County, will not require an appointment to get vaccinated.
People under 18, however, will require consent of a parent or guardian to get vaccinated.
Consent forms are available on the Contra Costa Health Services website at https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/vaccine. Consent can also be given via phone call or video chat, according to the county.
With the state set to lift pandemic-related restrictions, particularly for vaccinated people, on June 15, county officials said it will be especially important for non-vaccinated residents to get their shots before then.
“We’re entering an exciting new time when people who are vaccinated can safely do more things together, indoors and outdoors, and without face coverings,” said Dr. Ori Tzvieli, the county’s deputy health officer. “We all want that freedom and we all want the safety.”
As of Wednesday morning, more than 1.2 million vaccine doses have been administered countywide. In addition, 71.2 percent of eligible county residents have received at least one vaccine dose.
Roughly 20 percent of the county’s kids ages 12-15 have received one dose since the county made them available to that age group last week. Nearly 50,000 12-15-year-olds remain unvaccinated in the county.
“The pandemic has really kept us apart, and we can really end this together,” said Dr. Sharon Mowat, Kaiser’s physician in chief for the Diablo Valley service area. “Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the fastest way to bring back all those moments that we’ve been missing and the best way, really, to keep our loved ones safe and healthy.”
The full list of vaccination clinics at schools across the county can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/3fAy5DP.
All school-based clinics will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Good. Let’s put a lid on covid and move on.
I can’t wait. It’s not completely over though. The aunt of a long time friend my husband passed away after getting ill with COVID, and she had her two doses of vaccine and the proper waiting period before she caught the virus.
The County Health Department vaccine dashboard shows that the number of first doses given more than doubled between last Wednesday and last Thursday. It looks like there are more parents eager to get their kids vaccinated than I expected.
They are… most of the kid’s in my children’s classes have been bragging that they have/ are getting vaccinated.
It is sick the way they are trying to bribe kids to get this.
Yeah that’s great…
Soon the vaccines will be on every corner in a refrigerated ice (cream) box under an umbrella. Ding ding, come on out for your jab!
“We’re entering an exciting new time when people who are vaccinated can safely do more things together, indoors and outdoors, and without face coverings”
Geez.