COVID-19 vaccine now offered for Hancock County youth

GARNER – Area youth ages 12 to 18 will now be able to receive their COVID-19 vaccine in Hancock County beginning Thursday, May 27 as Hancock County Health System’s Community Health (Public Health) will soon receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine. 

People can schedule their own appointment by going to www.trustHCHS.com. A parent or legal guardian must be present with the child(ren) at the time of vaccination to give written permission/consent.

The Food and Drug Administration declared that the Pfizer vaccine is safe and offers strong protection for younger teens based on testing of more than 2,000 U.S. volunteers, ages 12 to 15.

The nation is unlikely to achieve herd immunity — when enough people in a given community have antibodies against a specific disease - until children can get vaccinated.

“Being able to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to area youth brings us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic,” said Krista Petersen, HCHS Community Health Nurse. “Vaccinating youth will also ensure that after-school extracurricular activities such as sports, art and other in-person activities will not be in jeopardy of having to be stalled or end because our youth will stay healthy.”

While numbers of COVID-19 cases have gone down, the disease has not disappeared from our area and is still just as concerning to health experts. 

“We encourage all eligible people to receive the vaccine now to be prepared for the colder months, when we may see spikes,” said Jamie Brantner, PA-C, of HCHS Clinics.

HCHS Community Health’s vaccine clinics will be held at the Community Health building, which is located at 545 State Street, Garner.