Now that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for kids aged 5-11, parents in North Dakota can make appointments for those shots.
Kelsey Nefzger is a registered nurse at Essentia Health, where she is also immunization program manager. She says she understands many parents may still have concerns, but that health care providers are ready to speak with them about those questions about the vaccines.
She says the COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be 90 percent effective in children in this age group, which is better than any other vaccine in history. She says it’s very exciting that COVID is on its way to being a vaccine preventable disease for all children.
"It's just going to be another way for us to get back to normal life. I think that's something that's really exciting for this age group too; we have kids that are in sports and activities, and we want kids to get back into school without having to do mask mandates, and quarantining, and distance learning. This is just another exciting thing we can do to get back to as much of a normal life as possible."
Nefzger says at Essentia, kids are able to get vaccinated as early as today at their regular doctor visits and well checks. She says parents can also call or make appointments in MyChart to be vaccinated next week.
