Adolescents are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Sedgwick County Health Department on Thursday began offering the Pfizer vaccine to kids over 12 years old.
No appointments are needed at the county’s mass clinic at the former library downtown or at any of the mobile clinic locations. However, parents or legal guardians are required to give permission for kids to get shots.
Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne said expanding vaccines to children will help stop the spread of the disease. Even though fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 compared to adults, children can still be infected with COVID-19 and there’s no way to tell in advance whether they might have a very mild case or severe case, Byrne said. The county estimates that there are 45,000 kids in the 12 to 17 age range in Sedgwick County.
Teen COVID rate doubles rest of Kansas as FDA approves Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15 Jason Tidd, The Wichita Eagle
May 11 Kansas teenagers, who have the highest COVID-19 case and test positivity rates in the state, may now get vaccinated.
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to allow children ages 12 to 15 years old to get vaccinated. The two-shot mRNA vaccine already had emergency approval for people 16 and older. Today s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic, Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.
Sedgwick County to reduce hours at main COVID-19 vaccine clinic
The Sedgwick County Health Department will be reducing the hours of operation for the county’s main COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the former downtown library in Wichita.
The new hours will go into effect Monday, May 10th, and they will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The county continues to offer the Pfizer vaccine to anyone 18 and older, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is available by appointment to anyone 18 and older. For the Pfizer vaccine, walk-ins are welcome and no appointment is necessary. Appointments are available for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Thursday, May 6th. Beginning May 10th, appointments will be available daily as the supply allows.
Sedgwick County COVID-19 positivity rate climbs back above 5% kake.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kake.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sedgwick County offering Johnson & Johnson appointments this week
If you’re looking to get the COVID vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, the Sedgwick County Health Department will be offering it for two days this week.
The J&J shot is the single dose vaccine that is limited for use in people 18 and older. To get the J&J vaccine, you’ll need to make an appointment with the Sedgwick County Health Department for this Tuesday or Thursday. Appointments scheduled on these days, at the old Wichita Library location, 223 S. Main, will be for the Johnson & Johnson shot. All other dates and times will be for the Pfizer vaccine, which is open to be people 16 and up. An appointment for the Pfizer vaccine is not required, as the county is now taking walk-ins.