Marin County prepares to start vaccinating children 5 to 11 against COVID-19

Marin County has put together a plan to start vaccinating children Oct. 30 if the Food and Drug Administration approves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for ages 5 to 11 by then.

"We're getting ready but not until everything is approved," Mary Jane Burke, superintendent of Marin County schools, said Wednesday. "We're not going to vaccinate children tomorrow. Bottom line is that one of the hallmarks of the success we've had in Marin is the leadership of our public health department and they're forward thinking so we should be ready. ... We anticipate what's going to be needed so we're ready and we don't have to wait until we get the information and then get ready."

Burke said there are multiple pieces to the contingency plan that's being coordinated with the Marin County Department of Public Health.

"Our internal goal is that 75% of eligible children receive their first dose within one month of when the vaccine is authorized for this purpose," Laine Hendricks, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in an email.

The county is preparing to hold some school-based clinics and one-day large scale events to help facilitate vaccinations among this group.

Burke said there are three consecutive weekends tentatively scheduled for vaccine events: Oct. 30 and 31, Nov. 6 and 7 and Nov. 13 and 14.

"We know many parents will want to seek counsel from their pediatrician or family physician, so we are also working to build the capacity for family doctors to provide the COVID-19 vaccine in their offices," Hendricks said. "We are reaching out and meeting with pediatric practices to look at vaccine administration, refrigeration/storage, etc. In this sense, Marin County Public health would be a supplement to what pediatricians are offering.

Ahead of the vaccine distribution, the county is preparing to create opportunities for families to talk to doctors and ask questions about the vaccine. A meeting for families with public health doctors in both Spanish and English is slated to take place in mid-October.

"It's great if you anticipate what you have to do," said Burke.

The county posted a video explaining its contingency plan on YouTube.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccine data for kids between ages 5 and 11 is coming soon and could be submitted to the FDA by the end of September, CNBC reported.

"Then, it is up to the FDA to take their time, and then make a decision," Bourla said during an interview at Research America's 2021 National Health Research Forum.