DC To Begin Vaccinating Kids 5-11 This Week

On Tuesday, Nov. 2 following official approval from the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for use of the COVID-19 vaccine in kids aged 5 to 11, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health announced that families will be able to begin getting children five and older vaccinated against COVID-19 as early as Wednesday, Nov. 3.

The announcement, released late Tuesday night, seemed to indicate that some sites will be able to begin vaccinating elementary-aged children as early as Wednesday. However, as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, there were no locations listed on coronavirus.dc.gov as opening Wednesday to younger kids.

Update, Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.: DC Health announced that on Friday, Nov. 5, DC Health will host pop-up vaccine clinics for children ages 5 to 11 at two community centers: Takoma Community Center in Ward 4 (300 Van Buren St. NW) and Ft. Stanton Recreation Center in Ward 8 (1812 Erie St. 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.

Officials said that many additonal sites will begin vaccinating children as they receive supplies. That’s likely to be later this week, the statement said.

At a Nov. 3 press conference, DC Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt was asked how the District will ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine among the District’s children. When the vaccine was initially released to adults in spring 2020, affluent white residents were first to secure appointments.

Nesbitt said that because there is so much more vaccine available in November 2021 compared to the initial public launch in April 2020, there is less need for a rigorous appointment system.  “We can offer walk-up opportunities, no appointment, as early as Friday,” she said. Nesbitt said that, in addition, DC Health has looked at where children in these age groups live and will place pop-up clinics within walking distance in those wards and neighborhoods.

According to the DC Office of Planning (OP) there were 46,010 children between the ages of 5 and 11 living in the District in 2020. 5,437 called Ward 6 home. 16,804 live in Wards 7 and 8.

Nesbitt said that given the available supply, it is most important that families to choose to vaccinate their children. “When you have an equitable program, you can design a system, but people have to want to be vaccinated,” she said.

“People have to listen to facts and not myths when they make decisions about how to be vaccinated,” Nesbitt continued. “When you look at race and ethnicity data, it is not always an access issue; it is a choice issue, in terms of who is choosing to be vaccinated.”

Of those aged 12 and older, and so currently eligible for the vaccine, 38 percent are vaccinated in Ward 7 and 45 in Ward 8, compared to 64 percent in Ward 4 and 59 in Ward 3.

Asked if the COVID vaccine would be required for school attendance, Bowser reminded reporters that the COVID-19 vaccine is compulsory for certain school athletes over the age of 12. But she stopped at a full response. “We also want our kids in school full-time,” Bowser said, alluding to masking and testing regimes that she said keep kids safe and in school.