Children ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to receive the Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced this morning at Boston Children's Hospital.
They can get the shot either from their pediatrician or at any one of around 500 community health centers, pharmacies, hospitals and municipal clinics that will provide free doses. With that combination of vaccine providers, the governor said nearly every child in the state lives within 30 minutes of a place where they can get vaccinated.
Baker said family doctors will be at the center of the state's plan to distribute the vaccine to the more than 500,000 children in the 5 to 11 age bracket. He encourages parents who have questions about the vaccine to talk to their child's pediatrician.
"Pediatricians will obviously play a really big role here in this process because they are in fact, in many cases, the most trusted partner for parents and families as they make this decision," Baker said.
"We've seen over the past year that vaccines are safe and they're incredibly effective," said Acting Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke at the event at Children's, the region's leading pediatric hospital.
The governor doesn't anticipate any kind of shortages or supply limits for the pediatric version of the vaccine.
