COVID-19 Vaccines Available for Children Ages 5-11

November 9, 2021

Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani recently announced that COVID-19 vaccines are now available to be administered to Connecticut children ages 5 through 11. The availability of the vaccines for this age group follows the recent recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With this announcement, nearly all of Connecticut’s school-aged children are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This roll-out is a critical tool to help keep children in school and protect not just children themselves, but also their parents, family members, teachers, and school staff. It is estimated that about 277,630 children between ages 5 and 11 live in Connecticut.

Children and families have multiple, convenient options for where to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut, including:

  • Pediatricians: Hundreds of pediatricians are administering COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut. However, not all pediatricians have the vaccine. If a pediatrician does not offer the vaccine, refer to one of the additional options.
  • Pharmacies: Hundreds of pharmacies are offering the COVID-19 vaccines to children, including many CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, and other pharmacy chains and independent pharmacies across Connecticut. Pharmacies provide a safe and convenient location to receive a vaccine. Pharmacies have provided special training for their pharmacist staff to provide vaccines for younger children.
  • School-based clinics: The Connecticut Department of Public Health and Connecticut State Department of Education are collaborating to offer on-site clinics at schools across the state. These will be led either by school-based health centers or special mobile teams who are specifically trained to offer vaccines for younger children. Information about such clinics will be provided by individual schools or districts.
  • Other locations: In addition to the above, several health systems and local health departments will be offering COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11.

For more information on where children and adults can get COVID-19 vaccines in Connecticut, including a search tool to find the closest available locations, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine.

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