ST ANN, Mo. — St. Louis County is offering more locations for parents to bring their kids 5-11 to get the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
Starting Wednesday, parents in St. Louis County can go to one of four county library branches to get their younger kids vaccinated.
The county has expanded its rollout and has released a schedule for when each branch will be open for shots.
- Lewis and Clark Library Branch: Wednesday, 1-7 p.m.
- Natural Bridge Library Branch: Thursday, 1-7 p.m.
- Florissant Valley Library Branch: Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Rock Road Library Branch: Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
If you're in need of transportation to a vaccine clinic, you can call 314-615-2660 for free ride options.
Vaccines are also available at one of the St. Louis County permanent health clinics which include the John C. Murphy Health Center, North Central Community Health Center and South County Health Center. Those centers opened Tuesday for vaccination walk-ins and appointments.
You can schedule an appointment, and get more information on which library branches are offering the shots on reviveSTL.com.
The St. Louis County health department is remining parents of a few important notes before scheduling a vaccination:
- Children ages 5-11 are eligible to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is a smaller dose than what adults have been receiving.
- Providers cannot administer half of an adult vaccine for children ages 5-11; the youth vaccine is specially dosed and packaged.
- A parent or guardian must accompany a minor for vaccination. Identification is not required, and vaccines remain free for everyone.
Some parents still have questions about the vaccine. We talked with a representative from the St. Louis County health department at one of the clinics.
Valerie Nelson, St. Louis County health department’s director of clinical services, told our reporter some of the potential side effects kids can expect to experience after getting Pfizer’s child vaccine.
“It's really the same thing we tell adults – you may feel some soreness in your arm, you may feel tired,” Nelson said.
We looked into some of the most common questions parents across the country have.
First, just how safe is the vaccine?
Pfizer reported an almost 91% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID. The company said they didn’t see any “serious” side effects in kids, but did see effects that we’ve seen so far in adults like muscle aches, fever and fatigue that went away in about three days.
Next, concerns about heart inflammation, or myocarditis, have been making headlines.
Pfizer said there were no cases of this reported in any of the 3,100 kids ages 5-11 in the trial.
Lastly, what do you do if your kid is almost 12 years old? Should you wait for them to turn 12 to get the adult dose?
Pediatricians who spoke with NBC said no, kids should get the dose for their current age as it’ll still effective. And if your kid turns 12 between doses, they should get the adult dosage when they come in for their second shot.