OCCHD Vaccinates Nearly 1,000 Kids 12-15 On First Weekend Of Eligibility

The state and local county health departments were busy over the weekend with the vaccination rollout for those ages 12 to 15.

Oklahoma City-County Health Department officials said they hosted several vaccine pods over the weekend and vaccinated almost 1,000 kids ages 12 to 15 in Oklahoma County.

“At John Marshall High School we did 490 vaccinations. Over 50% were the new age category and another 20% were 16 to 18 year old's,” said Molly Fleming, the Public Information Officer with OCCHD.

Fleming noted that was just one example of the turnout of 12-to-15-year old’s this weekend after the green light was given by the CDC late last week.

“I think the interesting thing I have seen in the last few days is that the kids have been really empowered to make the decision for themselves,” Fleming said. “Their parents asked them to make the decision, and they did it. So, they were excited to get it.”

Adding in younger kids to the vaccine pool comes on the heels of CDC guidance for schools moving forward. And while metro school districts, like Oklahoma City Public Schools and Edmond, aren’t quite ready to release return to learn plans for the next school year, Fleming is hopeful vaccinations will help in getting kids back into the classrooms.

“With the CDC lowering the distance kids have to be apart, now that they will be vaccinated, we can see them going back to regular spacing. Maybe they won’t have to wear masks come the fall,” Fleming said. “Those are discussions that will go into the summer but the more kids that get vaccinated the more it can go back to how it was in 2019 or even before that.”

OCCHD is hosting several vaccination PODs this week. If you need to sign up for a vaccine you can do that on the website, https://www.vaxokc.com/.