The Bangor Public Health Department began vaccinating children younger than 5 against COVID-19 on Tuesday following the federal government’s recent approval of shots for the youngest age group.
All the appointment slots for Tuesday have been filled, so the department opened appointments for Thursday and Friday as well, some of which are still available, according to Jennifer Doyle, Bangor’s public health program manager.
Twenty-eight children signed up to receive the vaccine so far. The public health department currently has no waitlist, Doyle said.
The city’s public health department is another option for vaccinating young children, most of whom are expected to be vaccinated at pediatricians’ offices.
The department will hold COVID-19 vaccine clinics for children under 5 every Tuesday as needed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., though that may change based on demand, Doyle said. Vaccines are available by appointment only and administered by licensed registered nurses at the health department’s facility on Texas Avenue.
The department pre-ordered 200 pediatric doses of the vaccine in anticipation of the FDA approving Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for patients 6 months and older, which came on June 17.
Prior to that authorization, Moderna had been cleared for people ages 17 and older. Pfizer had been authorized for use in individuals 5 and older, according to the FDA.