One week in, here’s how many young children are getting COVID shots in Fresno, Valley
Almost 112,000 Fresno County children between the ages of 5 and 11 became eligible last week to start receiving doses of vaccine against COVID-19.
And one week into the vaccine rollout, more than 2,500 of those kids – or more than 2.2% of the age group – have received their first dose of the two-shot Pfizer BioNTech vaccine that received emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Nov. 2. By Nov. 3, some providers were already offering the shots to to youngsters.
The county-level data through Nov. 10 was released Thursday by the California Department of Public Health.
Across the broader central San Joaquin Valley – Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties – more than 3,600 children in the 5-to-11 age group have received at least one dose through Wednesday, out of about 233,000 who are eligible.
Nine-year-old Norah Kerr was among the children to get their first coronavirus shot in a vaccination clinic on Nov. 4 at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera County, just across the San Joaquin River from Fresno. Holding a white stuffed toy rabbit, the bespectacled girl rolled up her sleeve to show off the blue bandage on her right arm where she got the shot.
“Getting the vaccine is just like a flu shot,” Norah said. “It’s easy. As long as you keep yourself calm and you don’t worry about it, then honestly it’s all going to be OK. You won’t even feel it.”
Fresno County has the highest degree of early vaccine uptake among Valley counties over the first week, followed closely by Madera County, where just over 2% of eligible children have already gotten their first shots.
While the formal nationwide recommendations from federal health officials came earlier last week, some California counties didn’t have the special children’s doses available to offer until late last week or early this week. That got those areas off to a slower start.
The doses for children are at a lower strength than the vaccine that has been available to adults since mid-December. Providers who are offering the shots are receiving vials of vaccine with a different color label to ensure that children are receiving the proper dose. Just as for adults, the Pfizer vaccine requires two shots, spaced several weeks apart, to provide the fullest protection from coronavirus infection or serious illness from the disease.
Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health, last week hailed the FDA decision and CDC recommendation as a step to protect a new and significant segment of the population. Almost 92% of Fresno County’s total population – almost 950,000 people out of 1.03 million residents – are now vaccine-eligible.
Valleywide, eligibility stands at more than 92%, or about 1.97 million residents out of the region’s population of almost 2.14 million people.
“This is going to change a lot of people’s situations” ahead of holiday gatherings by ensuring that children have the same degree of protection as vaccinated adults, Vohra said last week.
“The fact that many, many thousands of kids will be at least partially vaccinated by Thanksgiving and fully vaccinated by Christmas, this is really a dream come true for thousands of families all across the Central Valley,” Vohra added.
At Valley Children’s Hospital, pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Karen Dahl said that vaccines for children offer a path for an accelerated return to “a more livable life, a return to school without disruption, (and) help allow for family gatherings and celebrations” without fear of serious disease from coronavirus.
Norah, the 9-year-old girl who got her shot last week, said she wanted to be an example for other children.
“I wanted to get the vaccine to show other kids that it’s OK and you can stay healthy either way if you do shots, because it’s all safe,” she said from behind a blue face mask.
Parents can contact their family doctor or pediatrician to see if they are offering the COVID-19 vaccine for children, or make appointments for their children to get shots through MyTurn, the state’s online system for finding places to get a coronavirus shot. To learn where the shots are available, residents can visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call MyTurn at 833-422-4255.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
