COVID-19 Vaccine Is Now Being Given To Kids Ages 5-11 In CT

CONNECTICUT — More than 277,600 Connecticut children between ages 5 and 11 are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine, state officials announced Tuesday.

Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said COVID-19 vaccines are now available to be administered to children ages 5 through 11. The availability of the vaccines for this age group follows the recent recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday evening.

State officials said "this roll-out is a critical tool to help keep children in school and protect not just children themselves, but also their parents, family members, teachers, and school staff."

Children and families have multiple options for where to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut, including:

• Pediatricians: Hundreds of pediatricians are administering COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut. However, not all pediatricians have the vaccine. If a pediatrician does not offer the vaccine, refer to one of the additional options.
• Pharmacies: Hundreds of pharmacies are offering the COVID-19 vaccines to children, including many CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, and other pharmacy chains and independent pharmacies across Connecticut. Pharmacies have provided special training for their pharmacist staff to provide vaccines for younger children.
• School-based clinics: The Connecticut Department of Public Health and Connecticut State Department of Education are collaborating to offer on-site clinics at schools across the state. These will be led either by school-based health centers or special mobile teams who are specifically trained to offer vaccines for younger children. Information about such clinics will be provided by individual schools or districts.
• Other locations: In addition to the above, several health systems and local health departments will be offering COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11.

For more information on where children and adults can get COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut, including a search tool to find the closest available locations, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine.

“It is particularly significant that COVID-19 vaccines are available to children ages 5 to 11 because now nearly everyone will have access to this life-saving tool,” Lamont said. “Keeping students in school has been one of my biggest priorities, and having vaccines available for more kids is an important component of this effort. I have heard from all of my public health advisors, and they are clear in their guidance – this vaccine is safe for kids and it works. I’m asking all Connecticut residents to help us continue to be a national leader in vaccines and get your children vaccinated against COVID-19 at your earliest convenience.”

“The data is clear – the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 through 11,” Juthani said. “...I encourage parents and families to protect their children and themselves.”

Dr. Jody Terranova, who serves on the executive board of the Connecticut chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is also the organization’s immunization representative, said, “For months, pediatric practices have been offering vaccines to children ages 12 and older, and it has been such a source of relief and safety for these kids and their families. I am delighted that the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for a much broader cohort of our children. Although kids often have milder cases of COVID-19 than adults, they still do get sick – and some children are currently battling long COVID as well. Getting this vaccine is the right thing to do to keep our kids and families safe.”

New COVID-19 updates, numbers

With 412 cases confirmed overnight, out of 50,606 tests taken, the state's daily coronavirus positivity rate reported Tuesday afternoon was 2.64 percent, a jump of one percentage point over the past 24 hours.

Hospitalizations fell one bed overnight. Two hundred four patients are currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19; of those 51 (25 percent) are fully vaccinated.

Most of those hospitalized (67) are in New Haven County.

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