Covid vaccinations available for youngest children next week
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TweetThe SEARHC Haines Health Center will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines on June 30 to children from 6 months to 5 years of age.
Weekly clinics will be held on Thursdays, with rotating morning and afternoon shifts. Parents should call for specific information and to reserve appointments.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 18 approved mRNA vaccinations made by both Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna for the youngest age group.
Haines SEARHC pharmacist Kati McAfee said the clinic received a stock of the new vaccine from its supplier earlier this week. SEARHC opted for the Moderna pediatric vaccine, which is administered in two shots four weeks apart. Each shot contains half the volume of an adult dose.
They chose Moderna to reduce possible confusion, since children from 5 to 11 all receive vaccines made by Pfizer, and also because it can be stored in a regular freezer. Pfizer’s vaccines must be stored in an ultracold freezer – which Haines does not have -- or else sent in so-called “micro shipments” that expire more quickly.
The Haines clinic received 60 doses to start but more will be delivered if there is demand. Information provided to the SEARHC by the state estimated that 150 children in this age range live in the Chilkat Valley.
McAfee said the clinic began vaccinating 5- through 11-year-olds in the fall. She noticed increases in demand around winter basketball and track tournaments that required travel to or through Canada.
She said demand is also higher for kids with underlying conditions like asthma, which can make them more susceptible to the virus and increase its severity if they do contract it.
She said vaccination is especially important for these higher-risk children because treatments are “harder to come by” for children if they do catch the virus. SEARHC has access to antiviral and antibody treatments – in the form of both pills and infusions – but these are available only for adults or people heavier than 88 pounds.
Dr. Lisa Rabinowitz, of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Service, told the Alaska Beacon online newspaper that COVID-19 is the fourth-leading cause of death in children under 1 year old and the fifth-leading cause in 1- to 4-year-olds.
McAfee said it’s good “to have more people who can be vaccinated, not just for the kids themselves but also for their families and people around them.” The CDC recommends vaccination even for children who have already had COVID-19.
