HUDSONVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) — As people under the age of 19 see high COVID-19 case rates, SpartanNash is hosting a vaccine clinic specifically for teens age 16 and 17.
The clinic is scheduled to run from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at a former Family Fare store at 5221 Cherry Ave. off Chicago Drive in Hudsonville.
“Throughout our clinics, we’ve noticed that 16- and 17-year-olds are having a hard time finding appointments,” Amy Ellis, SpartanNash’s pharmacy services manager, told News 8 in a Friday Zoom call. “We see the positivity rate going up in the under-19-year-old population and we really felt there was a need.”
Availability is also a concern for teens. Of the three vaccines currently being offered in the U.S., only Pfizer’s is approved for people as young as 16.
“We’ll have about 500 shots available,” Ellis said. “We’ll look at the response. There may be more opportunity to provide vaccines for this community.”
Families going on spring break and the recent uptick of COVID-19 cases in kids were among the factors that prompted SpartanNash to host the clinic.
“We just felt like we needed to make this happen as soon as kids were coming back from spring break and with sports and activities,” Ellis said. “We wanted to make sure that we could do everything we could to get those populations protected.”
Teens interested in signing up for the clinic can begin registering online Saturday morning. They must be accompanied by a parent or guarding and must have a verification of date of birth when they show up to the clinic.