After-school COVID-19 vaccination clinics for kids ages 5 to 11 to begin Tuesday

Sonoma County parents can begin to get COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 on Nov. 9.

The Sonoma County Office of Education, in partnership with Sonoma County Department of Health Services and Sonoma County school districts, chose dozens of sites around the county, with a focus on equity.

That means vaccine clinics will be held at schools with high free and reduced lunch numbers and in communities with lower vaccination rates where English is not the first language, said Casey D’Angelo, the county education department’s COVID-19 vaccination liaison.

The first two clinics will be held on Nov. 9 at Guerneville Elementary School from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Jefferson Elementary School in Cloverdale from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The clinics are meant for the students who attend those specific schools, and parents are encouraged to bring a birth certificate, although they will not be turned away if they don’t, according to Matt Brown, communications specialist for the Sonoma County Department of Health. No appointment is needed.

Information on when and where the pediatric vaccine clinics will be held can be found at www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html.

This week, the county expects to receive 7,500 does of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children, enough to vaccinate one fifth of the 37,000 kids ages 5 to 11 in the county.

As the supply-chain amps up to make more pediatric vaccine doses, county officials hope to get all kids in that age group vaccinated, with help from the after-school clinics and free information webinars in both English and Spanish, hosted by the county and the education department.

Officials hope to increase access to the vaccine among undeserved populations who might not have access to pediatricians, county sites or information about the vaccine, D’Angelo said.

“We’re hoping this will prevent kids from missing more school,” D’Angelo said.

One benefit for the kids who get vaccinated is that they won’t have to quarantine for two weeks if they come into close-contact with someone who caught the virus, an issue which presented a huge barrier to education last year, Brown said.

Because there is no vaccine mandate in place, parents who choose not to vaccinate their children will not be penalized, Brown said.

Right now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of the pediatric vaccine, though Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced plans for a vaccine mandate for children once the FDA fully approves the pediatric vaccine. At the earliest, the mandate for children ages 5 to 11 wouldn’t be in place until next school-year.

“The educational community, the teachers, custodians and staff are very excited that this safety measure is being offered to our younger students finally,” said Tracy Smith, Superintendent of the Rincon Valley Union School District. “It just make us feel happy.”

The county won’t have a vaccine clinic in the northeastern Santa Rosa district until December, but they’re glad the vaccine will be available and other schools will get the opportunity to have a clinic, Smith said.

She’s especially hopeful that some of the 120 students and their families who chose to do independent study in her district will feel safer coming back to the schools in-person as vaccine rates increase.

The main obstacle for the program has been getting correct information to skeptics of the vaccine, Brown said.

“There’s a lot of misinformation, a lot of bad information,” Brown said. “We are following the guidance of the CDC, the FDA, federal regulators, state regulators well-backed by scientific study and research and it’s proven that this vaccine is safe and effective for 5 to 11-year olds. That’s the message we’re trying to get out there but there’s a lot of misinformation counter to that.”

To counter the misinformation and provide useful information to curious parents in both English and Spanish, the county and SCOE will host the English-language community webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. and a Spanish-language community webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.

During the webinars, families will be able to ask questions and learn more about the pediatric vaccine for their children ages 5 to 11. For those that can’t make it, the webinar will be streamed live on the county's Facebook page.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.