Pharmacies, Hospitals & Pediatrician Offices All Gearing Up To Offer COVID Vaccines To Kids 5 & Up
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Pharmacies, hospitals and pediatrician offices are all gearing up to offer COVID vaccinations for children.
Miami-Dade and Broward Counties are also jumping on board to help vaccinate as many kids as possible.
This comes after the CDC's newest recommendation to vaccinate all kids ages five and up.
"It's clear that the vaccine is safe and children will benefit from it," said Gabriel Ruiz, a father and Miami resident.
"I think it's good because it will save lives and for our kids we do anything," said Yuniet Sosa of Miami.
The CDC just approving the Pfizer vaccine for children ages five to 11.
Alain Ruby has three toddlers and plans to get them all vaccinated.
"Since there is the delta variant, I think it's safer to get the children vaccinated," he said.
Now, the race is on for pharmacies and other providers to load up on enough doses for millions of children.
"I think it's a great opportunity to protect this population and prevent sever cases of COVID in this population," said Dr. Ivan Gonzalez, a pediatrician at Holtz Children's Hospital.
So, when and where can you get your child vaccinated?
CBS4 stopped by Walgreens where pharmacists said they'll begin vaccinating children on Saturday.
CVS isn't far behind. CBS4 was told they'll have plenty of shots available come Sunday.
Both pharmacies are encouraging people to make appointments online. Gabriel Ruiz said he'll be taking his 9-year-old daughter this weekend.
"It's the last one in the family left unvaccinated so we're looking forward to having the authorization," said Ruiz.
If you're a parent who wants to get your child vaccinated right away, you'll have plenty of options to do that. Perhaps one of the best will be right at their own school.
Beginning next week, Miami-Dade County will have 40 sites throughout the school district set up for children ages 5 and older to get their shots.
Broward County is working on a similar plan and could have vaccines available as early as next week.
"I think it's a little too early to have all of the kids protected by Thanksgiving but definitely by the time Christmas comes around," said Gonzalez.
Holtz Children's Hospital is awaiting a shipment of pediatric vaccines as well and will be offering them at their emergency department when they arrive.
Publix, Walmart and Winn Dixie tell us they'll have children's vaccines available soon as well.