Parents struggle to get head start on scheduling pediatric COVID-19 shots

Parents awaiting Pfizer's pediatric COVID-19 vaccine say they are frustrated they can’t schedule appointments ahead of time.

News 12 Staff

Nov 2, 2021, 9:31 PM

Updated 1,048 days ago

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Parents awaiting Pfizer's pediatric COVID-19 vaccine say they are frustrated they can’t schedule appointments ahead of time.
Christina Orr, of Wantagh, says she’s had a hard time trying to sign up her 8-year-old son for an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We just want kids to live their life to the fullest, and it's been a long road for everybody,” she says.
By 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, 300 doses of the Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine had arrived at Dr. John Zaso's office in East Meadow.
“The third of the dose actually generates as much antibody response in that age group as the full adult dose,” Zaso says.
The pediatric doses, like the adult doses, have to be kept in a freezer. Pfizer has labeled the shots for kids as orange and the ones for adults as purple.
However, parents say scheduling appointment for their children has not been easy.
By late Tuesday afternoon, all the major pharmacy chains— CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens— were still not taking appointments for children under 12.
None of the major hospital systems on the Island have announced plans to host mass vaccination sites, including Northwell Health, Catholic Health Systems or Stony Brook University.
Some parents are pushing for pediatricians’ offices to give the shots.
Dr. Marc Lashley is with the Allied Physicians Group, which serves 200,000 children. He says they plan to hold two drive-thru mass vaccination sites next weekend for their patients only.
One of the sites will be at the Coleman Campground in Freeport. The other will be at the Crestwood Country Day Camp in Melville.
“We have enough vaccine for 1,000 children for each day,” Lashley says. “We did a survey of parents and found that 66% have asked to give the vaccine now to their children, 33% are either not wanting it or not sure.”
A spokesperson for Nassau County says its Health Department does not distribute the Pfizer vaccine, but that it will work with its health care partners to make sure it gets to the eligible age group.
News 12 reached out to Suffolk County officials for how they plan to handle the pediatric doses.