Vaccine clinics get underway at Seattle colleges

Vaccination clinics in schools

Starting this week, the Seattle Fire Department is offering vaccination clinics in schools to help protect 17,000 students eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine from the coronavirus.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that children 12 years and older would be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. The FDA approved the vaccine for those 16 and more back in December.

Vaccination clinics do not require an appointment, but students must provide written consent from their guardian prior to vaccination, city officials said. Schools that offer vaccination clinics email the consent forms, which are available in different languages, to families.

One of the first clinics was held at Nathan Hale High School on Monday.

Kayce Patterson was there with her son Gustav, a 14-year-old student from Jane Addams Middle School.

“We talked about doing things as a family and he’s the one who doesn’t want to leave because he feels insecure. I have a feeling it will be a strain on him, ”Patterson said.

Both Patterson and her son said they also hoped that more vaccinated children would help get America going again.

13-year-old eighth grader Viv Sackville said she and her friends were also excited about the opportunity to get vaccinated.

“The only nerves are the fact that it’s a shot and we don’t like being shot. But we’re glad that, like all of my friends, we’re glad we can get it, get the vaccine . ” She said.

Her father said soon the whole family would be vaccinated and planned to celebrate by going back to the Seattle Sounders Games.

Governor Jay Inslee ordered all 295 Washington school districts to open their buildings to elementary, middle and high school students in April.

In total, approximately 708 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Washington’s public and private K-12 schools since last August.

The Seattle Fire Department also offers pop-up vaccination clinics at Blanchet High School, Seattle Preparatory School, and Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School.

In addition, three youth-oriented vaccination clinics will be held at the Lumen Field Event Center this week.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan described vaccinating students as “an educational equity issue” because distance learning does not work well for all families.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that even vaccinated students should continue to wear masks and social distancing.