WI Pharmacies Say COVID-19 Shots For Children 5-11 Available After CDC Authorization

MILWAUKEE, WI — State health services and local health care providers are poised to begin giving Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations to children ages 5-11 after Rochelle Walensky, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, signed to authorize the shots for the age group Tuesday.

Wisconsin will get 171,900 doses of the newly approved vaccine in waves, Department of Health Services spokeswoman Jennifer Miller told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The authorization was a multi-step process with two independent expert panels discussing the decision, Milwaukee County's chief health policy advisor, Dr. Ben Weston said. "We now have an authorized safe and effective vaccine for these children," he added.

Here are local pharmacies that are offering the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5-11.

• Hayat Pharmacy, which has multiple locations in Milwaukee County, encouraged parents to set appointments for their young children starting Nov. 13.
• The Milwaukee Health Department will offer vaccines at 12 Milwaukee Public Schools and nine Seton Catholic Schools with a focus on the young children, but availability to all community members, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• CVS, with 80 locations in Wisconsin, will start offering shots to children under 12 starting Sunday at select locations, the company said.
• Walgreens will offer shots to children under 12 starting Saturday, the company said.

The federal government said it has enough doses to vaccinate nearly 28 million children under 12 in the U.S., but said local governments should identify providers that will get doses of pediatric vaccine in the first two weeks of the program launch.

Federal officials said that the first weeks of the vaccine launch will require clinics to be ready to vaccine a large number of children at first. People are directed to use www.vaccines.gov to find vaccine providers near them.