Child vaccine clinics set to begin next week in Douglas County

Several locations in Douglas County will begin offering the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 in the coming days.

One of those locations is the Eudora West Resource Center, which will host a clinic from 4-7 p.m. Nov. 10, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.

An appointment is required for this clinic and can be scheduled by going to www.ldchealth.org/getmyvaccine and entering the registration code PPEW111021.

LMH Health also anticipates providing the Pfizer vaccines for children aged 5-11 starting next week by appointment only at primary care clinics, except First Med and McLouth Medical Clinic.

Sam Glennon, the head pharmacist at Auburn Pharmacy in Eudora, said the children’s vaccine is a different product than the vaccine for those 12 and up. 

“The pediatric dose is going to be a little bit smaller than what the adult dose was. So the adult dose was 0.3 milliliters,” he said. “The pediatric dose is going to be 0.2 milliliters. It’s still going to be the same 21 days in between the two doses. It’ll still be a two-dose series.” 

Distributors will first prioritize sending the vaccines to hospitals, he said. He wasn’t sure the timeline for the completion of the hospital distribution phase but said retail pharmacies would receive the vaccines after that.

Dr. Jennifer Bihlmaier, a provider at LMH Health, said the vaccination has proven to be effective at preventing COVID-19 in children. 

“The risk of a serious complication from a COVID infection is much greater than the risk of an adverse side effect from the vaccination,” Bihlmaier said in a statement. “All childhood vaccinations to date have been shown to be safe.”

According to the CDC, clinical trials have also shown the Pfizer vaccine to have met safety standards for kids. 

LMH Health recommends individuals make appointments and register online prior to receiving the vaccine.

Other locations for the vaccine are included in the chart below. To make an appointment, click on this link and then enter the registration code.

Reach reporter Anna Denison at [email protected]. 

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