FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2021
Contact: Alexis Erikson, Public Relations Specialist
Phone: (907) 443-8918
COVID-19 Pfizer Vaccine now Available to 12-15 Year Olds
Nome, Alaska – Norton Sound Health Corporation is now offering Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 12-15. On Monday, May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine and on Wednesday, May 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee also approved the vaccine for this age group.
NSHC will send vaccines to the village schools beginning Thursday, May 13, with tentative plans to administer the vaccine on Friday, May 14, once parents or guardians have filled out NSHC’s consent form and reviewed the fact sheet.
In Nome, the Pfizer vaccine is available for anyone ages 12 and up, by appointment or walk-in. To schedule an appointment, please visit www.picktime.com/NSHC. NSHC will also be sending vaccination teams to Nome Public Schools to give Pfizer vaccine on Thursday, May 13.
- Fact sheet: https://www.nortonsoundhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/EUA-for-Recipients-and-Caregivers_Final.pdf
- Consent form for the vaccine: https://www.nortonsoundhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/school-based-consent-for-vaccination-21-22-VERSION-3.pdf
If your child has received any other type of vaccination within the last 14 days, they can still receive the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine. In addition, the FDA declared the Pfizer vaccine is safe and offers strong protection for younger teens based on testing of more than 2,000 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15. Researchers also found that children developed higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than earlier studies measured in young adults.
Vaccinating children is seen as crucial to ending the pandemic and returning to normalcy. This region is more likely to reach herd immunity once children are vaccinated against COVID-19.
NSHC is aiming for herd immunity with a target of 70-80% of the entire region vaccinated, including children under the age of 16. Currently, 58% of the total population has been vaccinated. The region is 12-22% away from meeting the herd immunity goal, when things may safely reopen and return to normal.
If you have questions or concerns about the vaccine, you can call into NSHC’s Tribal Leader Call on Monday or Wednesday at 1-800-315-6338; access code 03286#, or email NSHC’s medical staff for answers at .
