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City of Long Beach Offers COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Ages 6 Months and Older

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Long Beach, CA – Beginning Friday, June 24, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) will now have the ability to begin vaccinating anyone 6 months of age and older. The City will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility by offering the Moderna vaccine to children 6 months to 5 years of age, as well as the Pfizer vaccine to children 6 months to 4 years of age.

Qualified help. Two doctors in white coats is in the clinic working together.

“This is a huge step forward in our City’s efforts to keep our children and community safe in this public health crisis,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “Vaccines are safe and effective — especially at preventing hospitalization and serious illness. With vaccines now available to infants and toddlers, anyone who needs a vaccine can receive one.”

Pfizer

The Health Department will offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 6 months to 4 years old. Previously, the Pfizer vaccine was only offered to those ages 5 and older. The vaccine that will be given to this new age group will be a lower dose of the Pfizer vaccine and will be administered as a three-dose primary series. The initial two doses are administered three weeks apart, followed by a third dose administered at least eight weeks after the second dose.

Moderna

The Health Department will offer the Moderna vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. Previously, the Moderna vaccine was only offered to those who are 18 years of age and older. The vaccine that will be given to this new age group will be a lower dose of the Moderna vaccine and will be administered as a two-dose primary series. The initial two doses are administered one month apart. A third primary series dose, at least one month following the second dose, will be available for immunocompromised individuals.

To accommodate families and children of this age group, appointments for children ages 5 and younger will only be made available in the child-friendly clinical space at the Health Department’s Main Facility, located at 2525 Grand Ave., on the following days and times:

  • Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.
  • Saturdays, beginning July 2, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Vaccines for this new age group will not be offered at any other City-run COVID-19 vaccination site. Families that include people with disabilities, access or functional needs, or underlying health conditions who are not able to travel to this vaccination site can request mobile vaccination at longbeach.gov/COVID19MobileVaccination or by calling 562.570.4636.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of these vaccines for infants and toddlers on June 17, which was followed by approvals from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on June 18, and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup on June 19.

The ACIP and CDC recommend that all children 6 months to 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines have undergone and will continue to undergo rigorous safety monitoring. The COVID-19 vaccines have been found to be safe, and parents and guardians can contribute to continued safety monitoring by signing up their children for V-Safe to share with CDC how a child feels after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The Health Department also urges all healthcare providers and vaccine recipients to report any suspected adverse events following receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).

The Health Department continues to urge everyone to get vaccinated and boosted when eligible, as it remains the single best way to protect yourself and those around you against COVID-19. Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing COVID-19 infection and especially effective at preventing hospitalization, serious illness or death among breakthrough cases of the virus. To view the most up-to-date vaccine clinic schedule and to schedule an appointment, visit longbeach.gov/vaxLB or call 562.570.4636.

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep our residents safe, visit longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity and @LBHealthDept on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. People may also visit longbeach.gov/COVID19data for up-to-date information regarding cases and vaccines in Long Beach.