COVID-19 Vaccines for Ages 6 months-11 years (Pediatric Vaccines)

Pediatric COVID-19 vaccination clinics for Sonoma County students ages 5 and older, as well as their families, will start on Tuesday, November 9, 2021. A full schedule of after school vaccination clinics can be found at scoe.org/vaccines and the County of Sonoma's COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics calendar. The clinics are the result of a partnership between Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), Sonoma County Department of Health Services, and Sonoma County school districts that have offered to host clinics. School-based clinics will offer the Pfizer vaccine, which received full approval from the CDC for children ages 6 months -11 on November 2, 2021.

The pediatric COVID-19 vaccine is a specialized vaccine for children and includes a lower dose, a third of the dose given to adults and teenagers. The dose size was chosen to strike the right balance between providing strong immunity and limiting side effects. It was found to be nearly 91% effective at preventing COVID-19. It is given via smaller needles for smaller arms. Since 1995, California has mandated that school-aged children be vaccinated against 10 vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, mumps, and polio. The result has been that measles, for example, has nearly disappeared.