BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be available for kids ages 12 to 15 soon, so 2 On Your Side wanted to see what's being done to get ready for that.
There will be special clinics for 12 to 15-year-olds in some cases, and you can also go to your pediatrician so you and your kids are comfortable with someone you know.
Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein is also a pediatrician. She told us that it is OK to have questions about the vaccine and that your family doctor can be a great resource for you.
"You can get all your questions answered from your pediatrician. They're really skilled at answering parents' questions about vaccine and helping kids and parents through those difficult decisions, so I really want to encourage everybody, if they have questions. And it's OK to have questions, make sure that you get answers from a credible source. One example of a credible source is, one of the most credible sources is, your own health care provider, " Dr. Burstein.
The goal is to make it easy to get the vaccine when it opens up to this age group, so expect it to be available at your pediatrician's office and at clinics across Western New York.
Some will specifically be geared toward kids.
In Niagara Falls, there's already a clinic planned in June at an elementary school so families will be able to walk to it, and kids can get vaccinated at a familiar place. There will also be free transportation so that's not a barrier.
"I think it's really important to have the vaccination sites in familiar places for younger children. We know it's scary. We know there's a lot of unknowns, but when you bring those unknowns and potential scary situations to a place where we want kids to feel comfortable, like their school, I think it starts to take some of the obstacles out of the way for children, " Niagara Falls City Schools superintendent Mark Laurrie said.
Both Laurrie and Dr. Burstein say getting kids in this age group vaccinated is super important when it comes to fully reopening schools.
"Eighty to 85 percent of our teaching staff and school staff is vaccinated. It's important to be role models, so I think it's important for members of our community to stand up and say, I have been vaccinated, she's been vaccinated, I'm a Black or Brown citizen who has been vaccinated. It's part of that whole adage that we hear frequently, it takes a village. Well, if we really believe in that, now it's time to put action behind those words. Take the village together and get vaccinated," Laurrie said.
Dr. Burstein added: "We are giving out lots of Pfizer vaccine to any community pediatrician in Erie County, or even Western New York, who wants the vaccine. We want to get everybody vaccinated. And so, we know that pediatricians are very skilled at talking to parents who are questioning vaccine and providing them with the right information from a credible source, your pediatrician."
If you have questions, you can call your child's doctor. A school nurse can also be a great resource.
Just like for adults, getting vaccinated opens up activities for children, including more youth sports, and could loosen the quarantine rules if there's a positive case on a team.
"We anticipate that some sports may start requiring the COVID-19 vaccine, and we know that as we're seeing transmission within sports teams, so if we have a sports team that where there is a case of COVID-19, all the team members who are fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine, so that is an incentive to keep kids in sports," Dr. Burstein said.