County vaccinates 800 young children for COVID; schools to start giving shots soon
More than 800 children have received COVID-19 vaccinations from the Sedgwick County Health Department since Thursday when the vaccine was approved for use in young children, county officials announced Tuesday.
Also, the Wichita school district plans to open a vaccination site where their students will be able to get their shots.
Business has been brisk since Thursday when the federal government green-lighted the Pfizer vaccine for the 5-11 age group, said Tim Kaufman, assistant county manager
“We’ve already vaccinated 804 kids in that age category,” Kaufman said. “We have an emphasis (on that group).”
County health will be working through the Veterans Day holiday on Thursday to keep up with demand, Kaufman said.
“The county is closed, but we’re going to have our vaccination clinic open and we’ve got most of those appointment slots dedicated to the 5 to 11 population,” he said.
The Wichita school district developed COVID vaccination capabilities earlier in the pandemic to immunize teachers and staff and will carry some of the load of vaccines for the younger set.
“One of our big partners in the community vaccinating children is USD 259,” Kaufman said. “They’re a vaccine provider so they’re able to order vaccinations. We know that they’ve done that and they have the staff and the capacity to vaccinate kids.
“So 259 is going to be taking care of their kids that way. That leaves us the opportunity to work with suburban districts.”
District spokeswoman Susan Arensman said the school district hasn’t administered any shots yet to the 5-11 group and won’t be going school-by-school with vaccines.
Instead, the district will set up a vaccination station at district headquarters that will serve the school community, including students, parents and unvaccinated employees, Arensman said.
Kaufman said the county will hold mobile clinics at schools in the outlying districts.
“We’ve heard from a few. We haven’t heard from all of them yet,” he said. “We’re reaching out to them to see if we can be of assistance, if they want us to come on site or if they’ve got other plans.”
Among eligible adults and children 12 and older in the county, about 59.4% have received a first dose of the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine, Kaufman said. About 55% are fully vaccinated.
Those rates will drop now that the children 5-11 have been added to the pool of eligible vaccine recipients, he said.
The vaccination rate for the total population is about 50% with at least one dose and 45% fully vaccinated.
Overall, almost 119,000 Sedgwick County residents are now fully vaccinated. and 253,000 individual shots have been administered, he said.
Parents who want to get vaccinations for their children can visit www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/vaccine/scheduling/ to schedule an appointment or call 316-660-1029.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 12:25 PM.
