San Rafael, CA – COVID-19 vaccinations are to start Thursday, May 13, in Marin County for youths aged 12 to 15 now that authorization bodies have provided the go-ahead.
Marin County Public Health is organizing the outreach effort for parents and guardians of the younger group, which amounts to about 14,000 residents. Public Health has set a goal to vaccinate at least half of the group within a week of receiving authorization. Existing mass vaccination sites will offer evening and weekend hours for newly eligible youths, and mobile vaccination units will be dispatched to select locations, including schools in lower-income communities.
Having student bodies and staff of middle schools and high schools protected with vaccine is seen as a “game-changer” for restoring normalcy in school settings.One primary site for adolescent vaccinations will be the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, a drive-through vaccine site operated in partnership with Curative and the Golden Gate Bridge District. The site is open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will open 6,000 appointments for the newly approved 12- to 15-age group on Thursday, May 13.
In addition to the Larkspur location, several one-day vaccine clinics are planned at sites around Marin, including:
- Thursday, May 13 – Village at Corte Madera, Corte Madera
- Saturday, May 15 – Miller Creek Middle School, Marinwood
- Monday, May 17 – San Jose Middle School, Novato
- Tuesday, May 18 – Coastal Health Alliance, Point Reyes Station
- Wednesday, May 19 – North Marin Community Services, Novato
- Friday, May 21 – Hamilton Community Center, Hamilton
- Saturday, May 22 – Miller Creek Middle School, Marinwood
- Saturday, May 22 – Canal Alliance, San Rafael
Advance appointments are required for all locations listed above, though walk-in clinics are being planned and will be announced soon. In addition, local pharmacies, such as CVS, Walgreens, Safeway, and Golden Gate, have also begun offering appointments for youth age 12 and older. Details and appointments for all vaccine options in Marin can be found at GetVaccinatedMarin.org.
Teens 16 to 18 became eligible for vaccination on April 15, and already approximately 82% of Marin youths in that group have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the only vaccine that had been authorized for people under 18.
Dr. Matt Willis, Marin’s Public Health Officer said more than 85% of all residents age 16 and older have been vaccinated in Marin. “As we open to a wider age group, this is a golden opportunity to reach that level community immunity we’ve been aiming for,” he said.
“Protecting our young people is a critical step in putting this pandemic behind us,” said Dr. Karin Shavelson, Chief Medical Officer of MarinHealth and a practicing pediatrician. “This vaccine is safe and effective. I’m excited that my patients will have more freedom in their lives after they’ve been vaccinated.”
Shavelson added that having student bodies and staff of middle schools and high schools protected with vaccine will be a “game-changer” for restoring normalcy in school settings.
Nationally, as new COVID-19 virus variants spread, younger people are making up an increasing fraction of cases and hospitalizations. In California, cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) are on the rise among children who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Preventing infection also protects adolescents from developing the long-term symptoms of COVID-19, or “long COVID,” which can last indefinitely after the infection resolves.
Information the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination locations in Marin County can be found at GetVaccinatedMarin.org.