Sunset Health to host drive-thru vaccine events for kids
Following approval of the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5-11, Sunset Health will host drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination events for children in South County and north Yuma on Saturday, Nov. 13.
The clinics will take place simultaneously from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Sunset Health facilities located at 815 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd. in San Luis and 675 S. Avenue B in Yuma.
Parents interested in having their children receive the vaccine must call 928-819-8999 to pre-register. Children do not need to be Sunset Health patients to receive the vaccine.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention this week gave the final green light to the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children younger than 12.
“This COVID-19 vaccination event is among the most important events we have done, since we know that COVID-19 cases in children also can result in hospitalizations, deaths, MIS-C (inflammatory syndromes) and longterm complications, such as long COVID,” Sunset Health stated in a press release.
The healthcare organization noted that the spread of the delta variant resulted in a surge of COVID-19 cases in children throughout the summer. During a sixweek period in late June to mid-August, COVID-19 hospitalizations among children and adolescents increased fivefold.
“Vaccination, along with other preventative measures, can protect our children in Yuma from COVID-19,” Sunset Health added.
The Pfizer vaccine is the first COVID-19 immunization approved in the U.S. for this age group. The CDC endorsement came days after the Food and Drug Administration approved its use in younger children.
Citing the CDC, Sunset Health noted that children are at the same risk of contracting the virus as adults but with mild symptoms. “Children and adults have similar risks of being infected by COVID-19, but there is a ‘much higher’ proportion of infected children who do not show symptoms of the coronavirus,” the organization stated, pointing to a report published in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics.
The study also revealed that if a family member contracts the coronavirus, the other members run a 52% risk of being infected, according to Sunset Health. The CDC led the study, in collaboration with researchers from the Utah University of Health, Columbia University and the Marshfield Virology Laboratory.