The District will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to children ages six months and older at COVID Centers in all eight wards beginning Tuesday, June 21. The Ward 6 Center (507 Eighth St. SE) will be open this week Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., although Tuesdays are usually the day they are closed.
The announcement came after approval was granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday for both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines. An advisory panel for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) had recommended approval of Moderna’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) request on Thursday, June 16.
The Moderna vaccine, approved for 6 months to 5 years old, is two doses. The Pfizer vaccine is approved for 6 months to 4 years old and is three doses.
The pediatric vaccines will be available at all District COVID Centers, health clinics, and doctors’ offices. The vaccine will also be available at select pharmacies for children three and up.
Access at Ward COVID Centers
The first shipment of doses will arrive on Monday. Doses of the vaccines at COVID Centers will initially be in limited supply, with each Center receiving an initial shipment of 150 doses of Pfizer and 150 of Moderna and then 60 doses of Pfizer and 140 of Moderna each day following. Parents or guardians will need to show proof of District residency for pediatric vaccines. This includes an ID, piece of mail with your name and address on it, lease, etc.
The COVID Center schedule for next week, adjusted to have all eight sites open on Tuesday, is below. Residents should note that the new Ward 1 location at 1000 U Street NW (which is replacing the previous location on Euclid Street) opens on Tuesday, June 21. Participating vaccine locations will also be listed on vaccinate.dc.gov.
DC Health recommends that all children between six months and four years old receive this vaccine as soon as possible, preferably through their primary care physician who can also provide other important childhood vaccinations.
However, as Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) sat in on a call focused on District COVID response Friday, she confirmed the Ward COVID Centers will vaccinate all eligible ages.
All ages!
— Christina Henderson (@chenderson) June 17, 2022
Two Vaccines
Two vaccines will be available for the small set, one from Moderna and another from Pfizer-Biotech. Since most of the shots administered at the COVID Centers will be the Moderna shot, it’s good to be aware of some differences between the two.
The Moderna Vaccine is a two-dose series administered a month apart; each dose is 25 micrograms. The Pfizer-Biotech vaccine EUA is for children 6 months through 4 years. It’s a three dose series.
For example, if your child is six months to five years old and is vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine on June 21, they will receive their second and final dose on July 19. If your child is given the Pfizer vaccine on June 21, they will receive their second dose on July 12 and their third and final dose September 6.
A third Moderna shot, characterized at the FDA hearing as a booster, is expected to be administered to children in the clinical trial around 4 months after their second dose and will be submitted to the FDA for approval sometime after data is collected this summer. While fever was reported as reaction from children in the trail, Moderna representatives told the FDA panel that rates for the reaction were not significantly higher than for other childhood vaccines.
The Pfizer-Biotech dosate is small; only 3 micrograms. The first two doses are spaced three weeks apart and then eight weeks later, the third is administered. The small dose was chosen, Pfizer representatives said, because it balanced immune responses such as fevers with adverse reactions. More than 3,000 kids received at least one dose.
The Pfizer-Biotech three-dose vaccine is reported to be 80 percent effective in kids under 5. Reports indicated Moderna is about 51 percent effective. Moderna representatives noted in presentation to the FDA Advisory Panel that the trial was conducted between Dcemeber 2021 and March 2022, during the heigh of the Omnicron wave. Those results were comparable to vaccine efficicacy in adults, the added.
“Vaccination is the best way to protect children from COVID-19 and help end the COVID-19 pandemic,” DC Health and the Mayor’s office noted in a joint press release. Clinical trials for both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children six months and older have shown the vaccines to be safe and effective.
6.4 percent of the District’s population, a few more than 42,000 DC residents, are under five years of age.
COVID-19 has become one of the top 10 causes of pediatric death, and tens of thousands of children and teens have been hospitalized because of the virus. While children and adolescents are typically at lower risk than adults of becoming severely ill or hospitalized from COVID-19, the effects of the virus are unpredictable.
Additional participating vaccine locations will also be listed at vaccinate.dc.gov.
Ward COVID Center Schedule Week of June 20
| Ward | Address | Hours |
| 1 | 1000 U Street NW | Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm  Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: CLOSED |
| 2 | 926 F Street NW | Monday: 10 am – 8 pm Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: CLOSED |
| 3 | 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW | Monday: 10 am – 8 pm Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: 9 am – 7 pm |
| 4 | 4704 13th Street NW | Monday: 10 am – 8 pm Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: CLOSED |
| 5 | 2350 Washington Place NE, Ste 105-N | Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: 9 am – 7 pm |
| 6 | 507 8th Street SE | Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: 9 am – 7 pm |
| 7 | 3929 Minnesota Avenue NE | Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: 9 am – 7 pm |
| 8 | 3640 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE | Monday: 10 am – 8 pm
Tuesday: 10 am – 8 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8 pm Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 7 pm Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm Sunday: CLOSED |
