School administrators mull mobile vaccination clinic for 5-11 year olds
RIDGEFIELD — Students ages 5 to 11 may soon have the chance to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at East Ridge Middle School.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 earlier this month. With 56,000 children vaccinated over the last three weeks, Connecticut has inoculated 20 percent of children in this age group, which is double the national average.
The state departments of public health and education have partnered to offer on-site clinics at schools across Connecti
cut. These clinics are either led by school-based health centers or special mobile teams that are specifically trained to administer vaccines to younger children, according to a press release from the DPH.
Ridgefield administrators discussed bringing a mobile vaccination clinic to the district during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.
The district did not provide such a clinic when the same authorization was granted for 12- to17-year-olds since there was a greater presence of mass vaccination clinics in surrounding areas at the time, Superintendent Susie Da Silva said.
School officials sent a survey to parents on Tuesday to gauge interest in the program.
“We really don’t have a full understanding of … what the need is,” Da Silva said. “So we (want) to … get a sense from our community if they’re able to get appointments with their pediatrician — if they want them — or if they’re struggling to find an access point.”
If the district determines a need for the program based on results from the survey, it would invite Griffin Health Services to set up a mobile vaccination clinic in the cafeteria at East Ridge Middle School. The health care provider is also partnering with the Department of Public Health to coordinate free clinics throughout the state.
The clinic would operate outside of school hours from 4 to 7 p.m., Da Silva said. School administrators would handle the registration process and Griffin’s medical personnel would administer the vaccines.
The provider could begin administering first and second doses of the vaccine to Ridgefield’s 5- to11-year-olds as early as Nov. 30, Da Silva said. A follow-up clinic would occur on Dec. 21 for those needing a second dose, district nursing coordinator Aaron Crook said.
“The mobile vaccine clinic comes, they set up … and we just help provide a place for families where they can choose to vaccinate their children if they’d like to do so,” Crook added.
Much of the board seemed receptive to the idea and noted their appreciation for keeping parents’ choice at the forefront of the program. Board member Selina Bell said it would be especially helpful for working parents.
“I’m happy the administration is organizing this convenience, and that’s really what it is, to parents who might want to vaccinate their kids,” she added.
Board member Sean McEvoy expressed concern about Griffin Health Services administering the vaccines. He cited a classaction lawsuit lodged against Griffin Hospital in Derby; it alleges that nurses there improperly administered insulin to patients through the use of multi-dose insulin pens.
“I think we need to understand what checks they’ve put into place since then and make sure that can’t happen again,” he said.
In an email to Da Silva, board member Elizabeth Floegel, who was not present at the meeting, asked if the district has considered the impact the clinic would have on local pharmacies already offering the vaccines to this age group.
A representative from Bissell Pharmacy in Ridgefield said the business is only offering the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for individuals 18 and up; only select Rite Aid and CVS Pharmacy locations are offering COVID vaccines for children in this age group.
As of Monday, Ridgefield’s COVID positivity rate was 1.8 percent.