The District will offer a number of opportunities for students to get vaccinated – visit cps.edu/COVID for details. This will include:

• Four Regional Vaccination Clinics at CVCA, Roosevelt, Clark, and Richards High Schools
• Mobile vaccination units
• School-based health centers

All 5-to-11-year-olds, as well as anyone 12 and over receiving their primary vaccination series, will be eligible for a $100 incentive while receiving their vaccine at a CPS-hosted clinic or event.

The following pharmacies are confirmed to offer vaccination to invididuals over the age of 12:

• CVS
• Jewel-Osco
• Walgreens
• Walmart
• Costco

The following pharmacy locations will be provided vaccines for children age 5-11 in the first one-to-two weeks after approval and each has their own registration processes (included below):

• Walgreens: Register online, call your local Walgreens or 1-800-WALGREENS (1-800-925-4733)
• CVS: Register online, call your local CVS or 1-800-679-9691
• Mariano's: Register online
• Walmart: Call 833-886-0023, Option 1
• Chicago Costco Pharmacies: Register online for an appointment or call a pharmacy directly

All CDPH-sponsored community events as well as Protect Chicago At-Home appointments offer vaccinations for youth age 5-17.

While fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 compared to adults, children can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, can get sick from COVID-19, and can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect your children and those around them from COVID-19.

Clinical trials, with thousands of volunteers, showed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be safe and effective for children age 5 and up. As with all COVID-19 vaccines, every study, every phase, and every trial to determine the vaccine is safe for children was reviewed by the FDA and a vaccine safety group. The CDC continues to monitor the vaccine for safety. They have identified no concerns about long term impacts. There is no evidence that the vaccine impacts puberty or reproductive development in any way.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine approved for youth age 5-17.

No. The COVID-19 vaccines were created quickly, but scientists have been working on this technology for 10+ years. Scientists all over the world worked together and shared information – in a way that has never been seen before – to address the COVID-19 crisis and create these vaccines.

The vaccine studies, including those for youth, had thousands of volunteers and showed that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for those age 5 and up. The CDC continues to monitor the vaccine for safety.

Since April 2021, there have been less than one thousand confirmed reports of cases of inflammation of the heart – called myocarditis and pericarditis – happening after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination for people under 30. These reports are rare given the hundreds of millions of vaccine doses administered.

CDC and its partners are actively monitoring these reports, by reviewing data and medical records, to learn more about what happened and to see if there is any relationship to COVID-19 vaccination. Most patients who received care responded well treatment and rest and quickly felt better. Cases of myocarditis or pericarditis have been predominantly in males age 12-29 years. Symptoms (including chest pain, pressure, heart palpitations, and difficulty breathing after exercise or when lying down) typically develop within a few days after receipt of the second dose of vaccine.

CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 5 years of age and older, given the greater risk of COVID-19 illness and related, possibly severe complications. Talk to your healthcare provider if you have concerns about myocarditis.

The CDC continues to monitor the COVID-19 vaccine for safety. They have identified no concerns about long term impacts. There is no evidence that the vaccine impacts puberty or reproductive development in any way.

Vaccines prevent disease by helping your body form a “memory” of it, so if you were ever exposed to the virus, your body would know how to fight it.

Things to know about the Pfizer mRNA vaccine:

• mRNA vaccines do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19. They CANNOT give someone COVID-19.
• mRNA vaccines DO NOT affect or interact with our DNA in any way.

We get it. Getting a shot is no fun. However, the protecting your child and the people around them from COVID-19 is worth it. Find tips on getting through the needlestick here.

There may be some temporary side effects, like soreness at the injection site, feeling tired, or having a headache. All are signs that the body is building protection for COVID-19.