AVONDALE, Ariz. — The COVID-19 vaccine has been available to kids 5-11 for a couple of days now, but the first major vaccine events for that age group are happening this weekend.
Maricopa County and the city of Phoenix have partnered with pediatricians and other healthcare providers to reach as many families as possible.
MVP Kids Care, which has three different locations in the Valley, teamed up with the county to hold their first major clinic for kids as young as 5 on Saturday.
But even before the weekend, they were injecting hundreds of shots into kids' arms, according to Dr. Fred Shulski.
"We started on Thursday actually and have already given out 400 vaccines between the three offices," Shulski said.
But their big clinic on Saturday brought hundreds more in one single day.
"Parents are very thankful," the doctor added, "we’ve had questions since before school started about when their kids could get vaccinated and of course parents had been worried about sending kids to school, so the energy has been very positive."
Rachel Ries, senior director of operations with MVP Kids Care, said she brought in her 6-year-old son as soon as the vaccine was available to him.
"He had a genetic heart defect so he has been in a mask through this whole time at school, and so I brought him in and it was pretty emotional, it was terrific," Ries said with tears in her eyes.
If you missed out on Saturday's clinic, there is more to come. MVP Kids Care will be vaccinating kids Monday thru Friday at all locations, and will hold clinics 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays in Avondale for the foreseeable future.
"If you're still on the fence, come down and talk to us," Ries explained. "We have physicians and mid-level providers willing to answer your questions. You do not have to be a patient, you don't need insurance, and you don't need to be a resident. Because we partnered with the county, we're able to provide this vaccine to any individual that walks into this office."
The city of Phoenix is also teaming up with healthcare partners to host the first of two COVID-19 testing and vaccination events on Saturday to help people "have a shot at a healthy holiday season."
It was held from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the American Family Fields of Phoenix Baseball Park in Maryvale.
More information about pediatric COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website.
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