MPS COVID kids' vaccine clinics
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Public Schools is partnering with the Milwaukee Health Department to make it easier for your child to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Now that the shot is available for kids 5 to 11, MPS is opening up vaccine clinics around the city. The first opened Monday, Nov. 8.
"I’m just going to get the vaccine," said Bernadette Lawrence. "Why? Because I don’t want COVID."
Bernadette Lawrence, age 9, had been waiting a long time to get her COVID-19 vaccine.
"It hurt while I was getting it, but didn’t hurt too much after," said Lawrence.
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She, among other MPS students, has been yearning for just a bit of normalcy since the start of the pandemic.
"It was really weird not going to school for like, a full year and a half, and I didn’t have a normal fifth grade because it was all online school," said Evangeline Jameson, 11.
Now that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is available for kids 5 to 11, Milwaukee Public Schools wanted to make it easier for parents to get their kids vaccinated. They say getting this age group vaccinated will lower the chances of schools having to switch to virtual learning.
"When you take a look at the history of the schools that’s been closed, it's been ages 5 to 11 where there were no vaccinations available," said Dr. Keith Posley, MPS superintendent. "So now, this is a golden opportunity to make sure our schools stay open."
Kids wear masks as they return to school in Hillsborough County in August of 2021.
MPS partnered with the health department to host pop-up vaccine clinics near MPS schools for the next month and a half. T
"Give a reason why that this vaccine is to help protect you against the virus," said Heather Paradis, Milwaukee Health Department. "It may hurt briefly, but it will be momentary and think of all the great things that you can do after we all have this protection."
As much as it’s been a wait for the kids, some parents have been anxiously waiting, too.
"I want them to get vaccinated, and get us all through this," said Seth Jameson, father. "It’s a team effort."
"We’re just so happy it was finally put through," said Brandy Dively, mother.
"I am so relieved," said Amanda Betette, mother. "When it was made available for kids, I thought maybe it would be a scramble, or hard, or we would have to get in line or something, so it was just so nice to know we could just come here and it was so easy."
MPS officials say these clinics are available to the entire community, kids and adults. The Milwaukee Health Department will host one to two vaccine clinics per day.