Gundersen Health System will offer Pfizer COVID vaccine boosters to 5- to 11-year-olds starting May 25.
COVID vaccine is available during scheduled appointments at most Gundersen primary care locations. Parents or guardians can schedule an appointment by calling (608) 775-6829. Patients and non-patients are welcome at Gundersen for initial vaccinations and boosters.
COVID vaccine is also available at the following locations:
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Onalaska Clinic (Level 4): Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Walk-ins are welcome but limited walk-ins available after 3 p.m.)
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La Crosse ExpressCare Clinic (Village Shopping Center): Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Mark your calendar: Saturday, June 11 – Gundersen will host a COVID vaccine event for 5- to 11-year-olds from 8 a.m. to noon at the Onalaska Clinic (Level 4) Appointments are requested.
Reminder: Patients and non-patients 50 years and older can now receive their fourth dose of COVID vaccine.
What else do I need to know about the Pfizer COVID vaccine and kids?
Most important: Talk to your doctor if you have questions about COVID vaccine.
CDC and FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine for kids followed a thorough review of clinical trial data and will includes intense safety monitoring.
While not everyone experiences the same side effects, the most common side effects among kids during Pfizer’s clinical trials were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain.
Like adults, the Pfizer vaccine should not be given to kids with a history of severe allergic reactions to vaccine components. A very small number of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, have been reported among the hundreds of millions of Pfizer vaccine doses provided in the United States to date.
Why should kids get the COVID vaccine?
While the virus is frequently milder in the early phase of illness in kids than adults, kids can still get very sick and have complications. They also may be as likely as adults to have long-lasting symptoms that affect their health, something called “long COVID.”
Kids can also transmit COVID to others, even when they are not showing symptoms. COVID vaccine protects kids and those around them (parents, siblings, grandparents, friends), especially those at greater risk of severe illness.
Receiving the COVID vaccine also reduces the number of infections in the community and gives the virus less opportunity to mutate and contribute to variants in our community, some of which are more dangerous and can be resistant to the vaccine.
Read more from the CDC.
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