DALLAS — As soon as the CDC greenlighted Pfizer’s pediatric COVID vaccine, Emily Ortega grabbed her phone and started searching for shots.
“The first thing I did was Google, ‘Where can I get the vaccine?’” she said.
In a matter of minutes, Ortega found two appointments at a nearby CVS pharmacy for her boys, 9-year-old Tycho Barnes and his 7-year-old brother Valen Barnes.
“I have one scheduled for Sunday and then I have one scheduled for Wednesday. I couldn’t get them both at the same time because I guess I couldn’t click quick enough,” Ortega said.
Her first call a few days before the shots were approved had been to the boys’ pediatrician.
But the doctor was only giving shots to children who also had appointments for office visits.
“I didn’t want to take the time away from someone who needed a visit, too,” Ortega said, so she decided to search out pharmacies near their Euless home.
Within 30 minutes, she’d made Tycho and Valen’s appointments, and she could tell plenty of other moms and dads must have been doing the same thing.
“I was very surprised at how quickly the spots filled up,” she said.
Pediatricians might be the most comfortable place for children to get their COVID vaccines, but the shots will be widely available in a variety of locations across Texas in the next few days.
If your family pediatrician isn’t offering the shot, there is a good chance a CVS or Walgreens pharmacy near you is already taking appointments online.
If a hospital setting sounds more appealing than a retail pharmacy, Cook Children’s expects to begin offering large vaccinations at several clinics as early as Saturday. Families can register through their patient portals.
The federal vaccine locator website is another option for finding a nearby pharmacy or clinic offering pediatric shots and counties across Texas are opening up appointments, too.
Dallas County administered the vaccine to about 30 kids between the ages of 5 and 11 at its main health department headquarters on Wednesday.
Registration is now open online for appointments at various sites through Dallas County’s website.
The City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth ISD are partnering to offer COVID vaccines to newly eligible kids at a Thursday afternoon drive-thru clinic at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, located at 5201 C.A. Robertson Blvd. The clinic will be open for pediatric shots between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Initial vaccines as well as booster shots for adults will also be offered at that location.
Tarrant County has posted a list of vaccine sites online.
Denton County launched an online registration site.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has a list of other options for finding a vaccine for a child or an adult.
According to DSHS, within the next week 900 providers in 155 Texas counties will receive 1.3 million doses of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine.
Additional doses will continue to be shipped in the weeks that follow.
Ortega’s children are ready.
“I kind of feel safe knowing that I won’t infect anybody else,” Tycho said.
Valen said he’d already chosen his left arm for the vaccine because it’s his “very strong arm.”
Ortega admitted she offered her boys a sweet deal – they get to pick out any piece of candy they want after they get the shot.
Tycho is going with a big chocolate bar and Valen said he’s probably going to choose peanut butter cups.
“I really do trust the science,” Ortega said. “And I’m very relieved to have a little sense of security with their health.”