Lincoln residents can now begin getting COVID-19 vaccines for their children ages 5-11. Local pharmacies are preparing to receive a shipment of the doses.
“We’ve had the vaccine for the pediatric age group ordered for quite some time,” pharmacist Monte Scheele with RelyCare Pharmacy told LNK Today. “I don’t have it in hand yet, but when that becomes available we will be able to make some type of movement forward with vaccination.”
Scheele says they are “working closely with the Lancaster County Health Department and pediatricians to see what’s the best way to get this to them. Clearly, this is a sensitive age group and we want to make sure we are doing the right thing.”
Hy-Vee says some of their pharmacy locations are now administering the vaccine to children ages 5-11 Due to limited supplies, the vaccines are available by appointment only and more time slots will be added as additional doses become available. Spokesperson Christina Gayman tells KLIN News the vaccine isn’t available yet at their Lincoln stores.
“We anticipate it could start as early as tomorrow, (Thursday) it could be yet this week but right now our Lincoln locations do not have it just yet.”
Parents/guardians can schedule a COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 5-11 by visiting www.hy-vee.com/covidvaccine. Using Hy-Vee’s online scheduler, parents/guardians can quickly search for the Pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine across Hy-Vee pharmacy locations near them.
The vaccines are free to all eligible patients, regardless of their insurance coverage. Vaccine recipients will be required to remain in the pharmacy’s designated observation area for 15 minutes post-vaccination.
The Bryan Physician Network is working closely with the health department to host COVID-19 vaccine clinics at select Bryan Physician Network locations. These clinics will be for Bryan Physician Network patients ONLY, ages 5-11.
Bryan Health officials say they have treated 37 pediatric COVID-19 patients.