On Thursday, Children’s Mercy Hospital will start a series of vaccination clinics for some of the youngest people eligible to get the shot. “I think this extra layer of protection is going to be helpful for all of our patients and all of their families and beyond,” said Dr. Ryan McDonough, the physician lead for the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic.The hospital is holding three clinics for people age 16 to 21 to get the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only one authorized for 16 and 17-year-olds. “We are in a unique position to really help get it out there and get as many doses as possible, while the pharmacies and other places who may have the Moderna vaccine or may have the J&J vaccine are more targeting adults,” said Dr. Angela Myers, division director of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy. The first clinic is Thursday for Missouri residents age 16 to 21, who are either a racial or ethnic minority or who have a chronic disease like cancer, heart conditions or intellectual or developmental disabilities. The second clinic on Saturday is for all Kansas residents age 16 to 21 and an April 10 clinic will serve Missouri residents in that age bracket. Right now, there are about 400 doses for each clinic. “We expect that number to increase as the interest in the community continues to increase,” McDonough said.Doctors say even though teens may have lower rates of severe illness from COVID-19, they highly recommend getting vaccinated. “It’s still important because they can still transmit disease, right, to their parents or to their grandparents,” Myers said.It will also help them get back to the things so many have missed this year. “We want to get back to prom. We want to get back to graduation. We want all kids in school, and the more we can do, the more vaccine we can provide, the better able we are to do all those things,” Myers said.”We really want our patients to get back to real life,” McDonough said. “Being a part of this is allowing us to help make life a little more normal again and I think that is so rewarding.”Doctors at Children’s Mercy are also encouraged by the news that Pfizer’s vaccine trials in children are yielding promising results. “The news that Pfizer came out with today was very exciting, that 12 to 15-year-old age group, that they had low side effects similar to what adults did,” Myers said. “They used the same dose for the vaccine that adults are getting, and they also found the efficacy to be excellent.”She said she’s looking forward to being able to eventually offer the vaccine to children in the Kansas City area. “Even though yes, kids get sick less severely than adults on average, it’s not that we haven’t seen severe illness,” Myers said. “The ability to vaccinate these kids, it’s really, it’s going to eliminate death. It’s going to eliminate hospitalizations.”For more information about the clinics and how to sign up, click here.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
On Thursday, Children’s Mercy Hospital will start a series of vaccination clinics for some of the youngest people eligible to get the shot.
“I think this extra layer of protection is going to be helpful for all of our patients and all of their families and beyond,” said Dr. Ryan McDonough, the physician lead for the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
The hospital is holding three clinics for people age 16 to 21 to get the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only one authorized for 16 and 17-year-olds.
“We are in a unique position to really help get it out there and get as many doses as possible, while the pharmacies and other places who may have the Moderna vaccine or may have the J&J vaccine are more targeting adults,” said Dr. Angela Myers, division director of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy.
The first clinic is Thursday for Missouri residents age 16 to 21, who are either a racial or ethnic minority or who have a chronic disease like cancer, heart conditions or intellectual or developmental disabilities. The second clinic on Saturday is for all Kansas residents age 16 to 21 and an April 10 clinic will serve Missouri residents in that age bracket. Right now, there are about 400 doses for each clinic.
“We expect that number to increase as the interest in the community continues to increase,” McDonough said.
Doctors say even though teens may have lower rates of severe illness from COVID-19, they highly recommend getting vaccinated.
“It’s still important because they can still transmit disease, right, to their parents or to their grandparents,” Myers said.
It will also help them get back to the things so many have missed this year.
“We want to get back to prom. We want to get back to graduation. We want all kids in school, and the more we can do, the more vaccine we can provide, the better able we are to do all those things,” Myers said.
“We really want our patients to get back to real life,” McDonough said. “Being a part of this is allowing us to help make life a little more normal again and I think that is so rewarding.”
Doctors at Children’s Mercy are also encouraged by the news that Pfizer’s vaccine trials in children are yielding promising results.
“The news that Pfizer came out with today was very exciting, that 12 to 15-year-old age group, that they had low side effects similar to what adults did,” Myers said. “They used the same dose for the vaccine that adults are getting, and they also found the efficacy to be excellent.”
She said she’s looking forward to being able to eventually offer the vaccine to children in the Kansas City area.
“Even though yes, kids get sick less severely than adults on average, it’s not that we haven’t seen severe illness,” Myers said. “The ability to vaccinate these kids, it’s really, it’s going to eliminate death. It’s going to eliminate hospitalizations.”
For more information about the clinics and how to sign up, click here.