DALLAS — Children ages 5-11 are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, following the final signoff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday night.
And health officials say they're ready to begin putting shots in arms.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced the state will receive 1.3 million doses of Pfizer's pediatric vaccine, shipped to more than 900 providers in 155 counties across the state.
More than one million doses will be shipped to vaccine providers, such as hospitals, and nearly 350,000 will be sent to pharmacies through the federal pharmacy program.
We're gathering information here throughout the day about how parents can get their children a COVID-19 vaccine.
Can your child get a COVID-19 vaccine at CVS or Walgreen's?
Yes, beginning this weekend.
Starting Sunday, Nov. 7, select CVS pharmacy locations will begin offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for ages 5 to 11.
CVS Health said Wednesday that 1,700 locations are now accepting appointments for the pediatric vaccine. This includes 242 locations in Texas. Parents should schedule an appointment online at CVS.com or through the CVS pharmacy app.
CVS Health said it plans to introduce "child-friendly elements in the coming weeks designed to help motivate and reward the children and help keep them entertained" during the 15-minute post-vaccination observation period.
Walgreens announced Wednesday that it will begin offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 in thousands of stores starting Saturday, Nov. 6.
The company said appointments are now available and can be made through the appointment scheduler at Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine, through the Walgreens app or by calling 1-800-Walgreens.
Additional appointments will be added in the coming weeks as Walgreens gets additional vaccine doses, according to Wednesday's announcement.
What if I live in Dallas County?
Dallas County health officials were finalizing their plans for the vaccine rollout for children ages 5-11. Dallas County's health department held a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday with information on how children can get vaccinated.
County Judge Clay Jenkins told WFAA that plans are in the works to offer the shots to this age group at Fair Park. In addition, the county is working with schools to make these shots most convenient for parents. One element, Jenkins said, is administering shots through school nurses, with parents giving permission.
Around 30 kids aged 5-11 received the Pfizer COVID-19 shot at the Dallas County Health & Human Services Stemmons Immunization Clinic on Stemmons Freeway Wednesday morning.
Samuel Prysock, 7, was the very first child in this age group to get a shot. He said it only hurt “a little bit.”
“Yeah, we’re happy. It’s a big day for us,” Samuel’s mom Carrie Prysock said. “I believe in science. I am not a scientist. So I’m trusting that people who are smarter than I am know what they’re doing.”
Registration for 5-11-year-olds is now open online, according to Dallas County. Appointments start Thursday at various DCHHS clinics and the Eastfield Campus.
“Shots usually hurt, but this time it didn’t hurt that much,” Julius Brown, 11, said. “I feel like I’m free to do more things around the world and just feel more safer around people.”
Katy Ragsdale’s three kids – Ruby, 5; Charlie, 7; and Caroline, 9 – all got vaccinated Wednesday at DCHHS.
“We’ve been waiting 18 months for this. So we’re just really excited that it’s finally here,” Ragsdale said. “We’re thrilled that we might get to spend Thanksgiving with family that we haven’t seen in a really long time, especially Christmas, because they’ll be fully vaccinated by then.”
The mom of three is also excited about what the shots mean for her kids at school.
“They haven’t been eating lunch at school, because we’ve been nervous to have them in the cafeteria at school. So they’ll finally be able to stay for lunch and eat with their friends and they’re super excited about that,” Ragsdale said.
Jennifer Holt said her 3-year-old daughter cried because she wanted to get the Pfizer shot, but isn’t eligible yet. Holt explained the COVID-19 vaccine the best she could to her 5-year-old son, Robert, who received his first vaccine Wednesday.
“I said, ‘Well would you rather get sick?’ Because you have a choice of either getting the (COVID) sickness or you have protection from it if you get the shot,” Holt said. “It’s something we firmly believe everyone should do to protect your family so we can get back to normal.”
What if I live in Tarrant County?
Tarrant County officials are advising parents to talk with their pediatrician or local pharmacy about getting their child vaccinated.
If neither of those options are possible, parents can find a county vaccination site - some require registration, while others accept walk-ins. Here's a map and list of vaccine clinics in Tarrant County, with days, hours and links to register, if necessary.
Also in Tarrant County, Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth announced it received its first shipment of Pfizer's vaccine for children. The hospital's system received enough doses to vaccine more than 3,000 children.
Cook Children's plans to announce information about mass vaccination clinics for patients that have an existing MyCookChildren's online account. Cook Children's will contact those families directly via text or email.
Tarrant County was expecting to receive about 60,000 doses of the vaccine over the next week or so, with those doses being split between the public health department, pharmacies and pediatricians.
What if I live in Denton County?
Denton County officials are pointing parents to the Denton County Public Health Vaccine Interest Portal Waitlist.
The waitlist will then provide parents and guardians with an email or text message to self-schedule a vaccine appointment for their child. The county's public health department will host pediatric-only first-dose clinics, beginning Nov. 7, in Denton.
Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and must bring identification, such as birth certificates, medical or records or vaccine records to receive a vaccine at a county clinic.
The vaccine waitlist page also has information about boosters and who's eligible.
What if I live in Collin County?
Collin County has not had as many mass vaccination clinics throughout the pandemic, relying more on healthcare providers, pharmacies and hospitals for their vaccine rollout.
Parents in Collin County should go through one of those avenues if seeking a vaccine for their child.