Schools

COVID Vaccine Offered To NYC Kids At Summer Rising Schools

A vaccination "blitz" for 12- to 17-year-olds before school will start at 25 Summer Rising sites next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

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Melissa Moy, a teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124, goes over a lesson on a monitor with in-person Summer program students on July 22.
Melissa Moy, a teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124, goes over a lesson on a monitor with in-person Summer program students on July 22. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

NEW YORK CITY — A coronavirus vaccine "blitz" for New York City's public school students launches next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

Vaccine-eligible students can get their shots at 25 Summer Rising sites across the city starting July 26, de Blasio told WNYC's Brian Lehrer.

"We are right now starting the first wave of the blitz leading up to the beginning of schools,” de Blasio said Friday.

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About 44 percent of kids between 12 and 17 in the city have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, data shows.

That's well below the 70 percent level for adults, but de Blasio noted its still 226,000 kids who got shots in a matter of a few short weeks since they became eligible.

Find out what's happening in New York Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Pop-up vaccination sites that open next week, according to the Department of Education, are:

  • Monday & Tuesday: Fort Hamilton High School – Brooklyn
  • Tuesday & Wednesday: Herbert H Lehman High School – Bronx
  • Wednesday & Thursday: Susan E Wagner High School – Staten Island
  • Thursday & Friday: Long Island City High School – Queens
  • Thursday & Friday: Health Professions High School – Manhattan

Those and future sites will be open through August 13 in all five boroughs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the DOE.

New Yorkers who are 12 and up are all eligible for the two-dose Pfizer vaccine. Minors must have verbal consent from a parent at the time of the shot, and that can be given in-person or over the phone.

Minors who are 15 and younger must be accompanied by an adult, according to the DOE.

“Every single fully vaccinated person is a step towards making our City whole again and we’re excited to work with our health care partners to make vaccinations easily available to eligible students, parents and community members," said Meisha Ross Porter, the city's schools chancellor, in a statement. "We encourage all families to get their 12-17 year old their first dose by August 9 at our fun Summer Rising locations across the city so they are fully vaccinated by the start of the new school year."

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