TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Tarrant County leaders are working with school districts to make plans to distribute the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5-11, if the shot is given final approval next week.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley spoke to district superintendents during a phone call Wednesday morning.
“They said it would be ideal if they could get the first shot in the arms by Thanksgiving, which would allow them then to get the second shot done prior to their Christmas break,” Whitley said. “They felt like that would mean that as these kids are off, visiting families and grandparents, that it would be a little bit safer and hopefully make for a little bit better Christmas.”
On Tuesday, the FDA’s advisory panel endorsed the lower dose Pfizer shots for kids ages 5-11. The FDA commissioner has to sign off on it.
The CDC’s advisory panel will meet Tuesday and Wednesday and make a recommendation. Final approval will come from the CDC director.
“I can't tell you how excited I am about the opportunity to get these shots in these kids’ arms,” Whitley said.
“I wouldn't rule out there being some location open somewhere in Tarrant County on November the 6th to give vaccines,” the judge said, pending vaccine approval.
Here’s the plan for now: The school districts are working on identifying the best locations, dates, and times for students to come with their parents and get the shots. Meanwhile, the county is going to find people to administer the vaccine.
Permission slips are not part of the plan, Whitely said, which means they’ll work to make things as convenient as possible for parents.
“We could end up having a mega site that everybody could come to maybe on a Saturday. But we're going to have to be sensitive to the fact that these parents have jobs and to make it in the middle of the day is not going to be appropriate or right for them for at least some of the parents,” Whitley said. “But we're going to try to make that flexible.”
Whitley said he has a regularly scheduled call with the school districts next Wednesday, which is when he hopes to have more details on the rollout plan.