Boone Health to hold first vaccination clinic for ages 12-15 on Thursday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone Health is holding the first vaccination clinic for ages 12-15 in the mid-Missouri area at the Columbia Mall on Thursday morning.
The Pfizer clinic is open to anyone at least 12 years old and is the first clinic in the area vaccinating young teens after Wednesday night's vaccine approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration has given the Pfizer vaccine emergency use authorization for ages 12-15.
Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services gave final authorization around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday for health providers to begin administering the vaccines to the age group.
According to DHSS, 313,901 Missouri residents in the 12-15 age group are now eligible to be vaccinated. DHSS says it brings the total eligible population in Missouri to 5,235,715, which equates to 85% of the state's population.
Health experts says 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services said the new approval gives 8,068 young teens in the county vaccine eligibility. The department says it is in talks with local school districts to set up vaccine clinics but does not have any dates set yet.
The Cole County Health Department said the new approval gives 4,058 young teens vaccine eligibility. The department says it does not plan on having vaccination clinics set up with schools but does encourage residents to get vaccinated at the county's vaccination site at the Capital Mall, Hy-Vee, or the Jefferson City Medical Group.
As of Thursday morning, the state dashboard reported 4,204,238 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given out to residents. Almost 39% of residents have started the vaccination process and almost 32% of the state population is completely vaccinated. According to the dashboard, almost 50% of Missourians ages 18 and older have started vaccination and over 40% have completed vaccination.
Boone County is currently the most vaccinated jurisdiction in the state with 45.3% of the residents having started vaccination and 38.8% having completed vaccination. Over 36% of Cole County residents have started the vaccination process and 31.5% have completed vaccination.
As of 3 a.m. Thursday, all of the appointment slots for the Boone Health clinics on Thursday and Saturday were filled. A link can be found here, in case of appointment cancellations. The Pfizer vaccine, offered at the Boone Health clinics, requires two doses, 21 days apart.
Statewide vaccination events can be found on the state's website, here.
