The CDC recently approved the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccination for all children ages 12 and older. To make sure the opportunity was available to all Eagle Grove families who wanted their children vaccinated, Robert Blue Middle School and Eagle Grove High School held a clinic on Friday, May 21.
There were a total of 35 middle school students who received the shot and 37 high school students. School nurse Gayleen Rutherford said that was a pretty good number out of the student body population considering the fact that 16 – 18 year olds already had the opportunity to be vaccinated a few weeks earlier.
As the students came into the high school, some were very calm, excited to finally be getting the shot so they were protected against the virus. Others were a little more nervous, not so much about the safety of the vaccine, but rather the idea of a needle in their arm. Either way, all of them were excited by the prospect of no more masks to wear with more and more people receiving the vaccination.
Freshman Dakota Alt admitted she was a little scared to get the shot because she thought it would hurt, but said it wasn’t so bad.
“I’ve wanted to get the (COVID) shot ever since it came out,” stated Alt.
Sophomore Elise Olson said that she too was looking forward to getting the shot, and that it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, she barely even felt it.
Lili Huse, a freshman, said, “It didn’t hurt but it was still a scary experience.”
She admitted that she was a little nervous because the vaccine hasn’t been around that long and doesn’t know a lot about the side effects it might have in young teens. However, she decided the small risk was overshadowed by the health benefits it offered.
“I got it to protect myself and others against COVID,” she said.
In all, it took a team of four nurses less than an hour at each school building to administer the shots.
After each student received their shots, they were required to stay in the upper commons for monitoring should they have any adverse reactions to it. There were no reported problems…and the kids seemed to really enjoy the added bonus of a cookie to eat while they waited.
Round two of the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccination will be distributed on Friday, June 11 at the above mentioned schools starting at 1 p.m.
If you have a teen who was unable to get the shot through the school clinic, please check with Public Health or Eagle Pharmacy to find out how and where you can get them the vaccine.
