Our 13-year-old son got the vaccine as soon as he could and so did most of his friends,” the Santa Cruz father said. “Our two daughters aged 6 and 9 will get the vaccine when (it is) approved. Parents such as Phil Boutelle are not only eager but actively involving their children in the conversation around their own vaccination status. “With this age group, it really depends on how their parents view it,” Ghilarducci said. Ghilarducci hopes that this group will be more immune from misinformation that surges on social media and may tell them otherwise, too. I would love for the pandemic to end,” said Tierra Pacifica Charter School Board Director Alex Yasbek. “I know the risk of hospitalization from COVID is super low for (young kids), but they can still spread COVID. Vaccination, however, is still safe and smart for kids. Urgency, too, may have waned as Santa Cruz County has gotten the longer end of the stick in less severe hospital and death activity in youth than has been seen in other parts of the nation, Ghilarducci said. “When we first opened there was more uncertainty but now we have regular testing and there (has been) no on-campus spread.” “I think that from what I’ve seen, the urgency has come down a little bit as the efficacy of safety protocols in our elementary schools have held. Rolens said that, for the most part, parents have told him they are eagerly waiting for the news that they can take their 5- to 11-year-olds to local clinics. “We will be making shots available to our students and setting up free clinics at our schools, giving parents plenty of heads up when we are going to do it and making it easy to register,” Rolens said this week.

Santa Cruz City Schools Communication Coordinator Sam Rolens said he expects the game plan will be similar to when kids aged 12 to 16 became eligible for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Officials will lean on existing partnerships with the County Office of Education in order to organize clinics with each school district. “If they could get at least one shot a few weeks before Thanksgiving, they’ll have at least partial protection.”

Family gatherings really bumped up our numbers,” Ghilarducci said. “That’s when we have really seen spikes in disease before. He is encouraged by this timeline, as getting elementary-aged children - frequently the last to be vaccinated in their family - inoculated prior to the holidays may help mitigate community transmission. With the Food and Drug Administration reviewing the findings this week, the deputy health officer said his staff expects to hear a decision about the request to give younger kids half of the adult dose of vaccine in the next week or two. “That way not everyone will be rushing for shots at the same time… (because) the shot giving part will be the hardest part.” “We are working on the strategic end to try to figure out how to ‘load smooth,’ which means smoothing out that demand and being able to match our health care capacity to the demand for shots,” Ghilarducci said. Between the groups of those who have not yet gotten a shot, those who are eligible for an additional dose because they are immunocompromised, those who are eligible for a booster shot and, soon, the youngest children, health care providers are strapped. David Ghilarducci said the issue in providing access won’t be vaccine supply this time around - it’ll be health care capacity.

With this new, incoming age group, Deputy Health Officer Dr. SANTA CRUZ - With Pfizer’s request for an emergency use authorization that would make children aged five to 11 eligible for vaccination moving through the federal process, Santa Cruz County health experts are beginning to plan for the future rollout.

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