PEORIA, Ill. – You may or may not be a fan of the COVID-19 vaccines, especially the new lower-dose Pfizer vaccine for five- to eleven- year-olds, but the Superintendent of Peoria Public Schools says parents apparently are.
Doctor Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat says vaccinations of five- to eleven-year-olds will start next week, and many parents are ready.
“We just sent out forms a couple days ago, and we’ve already received 55 consent forms that’s already been turned in,” says Desmoulin-Kherat. “Those shots will be administered next week, either on Tuesday or Friday.”
Kherat says appointments for five- to eleven-year-olds will continue for the foreseeable future through the district’s provider, UnityPoint Health, on Tuesdays and Fridays. UnityPoint Health will contact the parents to set up appointments, and will do so again if the parents want to be there when the vaccination occurs.
Desmoulin-Kherat says she wants kids to continue to be in school just as much as anyone.
“So far this year, the majority of the positive COVID cases (in Peoria Public Schools) have occurred actually in that age group, five through eleven,” said Desmoulin-Kherat.
40 percent of the district’s student population is five to 11 year olds.
