DENVER – Parents in Colorado can start signing up their kids for COVID-19 vaccines if they are ages 5-11 starting Friday, as the state public health department and Children’s Hospital Colorado started making appointments available beginning next Friday.
Many of the slots were already filled as of Friday afternoon for the initial days of the rollout. The first day the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Children’s Hospital are offering slots is Friday, Nov. 5. But some appointments were still open starting Nov. 13.
The initial appointments are planned as followed:
- Children’s Hospital Anschutz: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
- Children’s Hospital Colorado Springs: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
- Children’s Hospital Broomfield: Three days a week, various days
- Children’s Hospital Highlands Ranch: Three days a week, various days
Parents can click here for the full schedule of appointments at Children’s Hospital locations. More information on the rollout from the CDPHE is available here.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for the 5-11 age group after the FDA issued emergency approval on Friday. If ACIP authorizes the use of the vaccine for the younger children, the CDC would make a final recommendation next week.
Gov. Jared Polis and other top health officials said in a news conference Thursday said they expected to start being able to administer the vaccines for kids 5-11 starting Nov. 5, and the CDPHE is still planning as such. The officials said they hoped to have half of the age group fully vaccinated by the end of January.
“Being able to vaccinate 5-11-year-old children will be a crucial step in our COVID-19 response,” said CDPHE Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eric France in a statement. “Vaccines are the best protection against COVID-19, and we are excited to be able to offer this additional protection to more children in Colorado soon. We are rolling out a statewide campaign to ensure vaccines for this age group are readily available and easy for Coloradans to access.”
In addition to the access at the various Children’s Hospital locations, other doctor’s offices, pharmacies, local public health sites, schools and community events are expected to be part of the statewide rollout. Colorado is also planning large-scale vaccine clinics, the state said Friday.
The state says more than 350 providers have already ordered the Pfizer vaccines for the age group, which will be one-third the dose of the vaccines given to people ages 12 and up. The state also has a list of pediatric vaccine providers parents can look through.
There are also resources available here for parents who are not sure whether to get their children vaccinated and how to talk to their children about doing so.
