Maya McFadden Photo
Jackson, 17, gets first Pfizer dose from Dr. Donald Levine.
While 17-year-old Jackson Elberson rolled his sleeve up to get his first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, his father stood by his side nervous but hopeful he was making the safest choice for his son.
Elberson received the shot Monday at the kick-off of a week-long student targeted vaccination initiative to get high school youth 16 and up vaccinated.
The clinic, held at Career High School clinic, had about 300 appointments scheduled for the first day.
The clinic has nearly 1,300 appointments scheduled for the week. About 1,100 of those appointments have been scheduled for students ages 16 – 17 reported City Clinical Director Stacey Hutcherson.
Joe and Jackson Elberson.
Father and son Joe and Jackson Elberson were able to secure an appointment Monday thanks to a text from the Board of Education (BOE) notifying guardians of the youth-centered clinic this week.
Jackson opted to get vaccinated to keep his family safe, particularly his mother, who has a heart condition. “I believe it’s safe,” he said.
Joe, although hesitant, had been vaccinated because he is an educator. Getting an appointment for himself weeks ago was “near impossible” until his school district opened up a small clinic, he said. Joe said his wife is still struggling to get an appointment.
“The smaller pop-ups are what’s needed. Otherwise you have to be very adamant,” he said.
After doing research and getting the vaccine himself, Joe decided the next safest step was to get Jackson vaccinated, he said. “It comes down to doing whatever you can for your kid,” he said. “Safety is number one.”
The Career clinic is working toward reaching its max capacity of vaccinating between 400 – 500 a day. This week the city Health Department vaccination site at 54 Meadow St. has relocated all of its appointments to Career. Many adults dropped in to the Career clinic Monday to get their second dose of the vaccine.
Tyler, 26, got his second dose Monday at Career after his appointment was relocated from the 54 Meadow clinic to Career.
“I got a message in March that I was eligible and thought, ‘Why not?’” he said. “I’m just happy I can do my part.”
Tyler: “Doing my part.”
After his first shot, Tyler said, he had no symptoms. He scheduled his first appointment in five minutes while on a work lunch break
Now that he’s vaccinated, Tyler plans to attend more family get-togethers
The Health Department and Board of Education partnered to get hundreds of doses of Pfizer vaccines specifically to high schoolers at this week’s clinic.
Career clinic Monday afternoon.
The clinic will operate this week with about 20 public health nurses who agreed to work during the school’s spring break vacation.
As in-person school returns and the summer approaches, Hutcherson urged parents to consider getting their eligible children vaccinated. “This is imperative to their social and emotional wellbeing,” he said.
The New Haven School District is made up of about 20,000 students.
Hutcherson said so far 2,500 doses have been allocated to the week-long clinic targeting students. He hopes to get more, he said.
Janeyah Wright, 19.
Janeyah Wright, 19, got her second dose Monday to keep safe while working as a residential monitor.
After doing her own research, Wright said ‚she was convinced to schedule an appointment by seeing “more positive facts than negative.”
“I was scared at first about how my body would react,” she said. After her first dose. Wright’s only symptom was fatigue for some hours.
Wright hopes to travel, attend more events, and visit her great-grandparents now that she has received both shots.
Career clinic’s 15-minute waiting area.
Eligibility for those 16 and up in Connecticut began April 1. Students under the age 18 are required to have their guardians sign a consent form to receive the vaccine. Consent forms will be available at the clinic and were emailed via Parent Link.
The vaccinate youth initiative will run April 12 to April 16 out of the Career clinic, open from 10:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m.
The initiative is targeting eligible youth who live or go to school in New Haven. To schedule an appointment call 877 – 918-2224 between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Christian Soarez, 20.
Christian Soarez, 20, got his first Pfizer dose Monday after slight hesitancy at the start of vaccine rollout in the winter.
Soarez, who has asthma, is a second-year Gateway student. He got the phone number to the clinic from his father. He called on April 5 and was scheduled for Monday within minutes, he said.
Although hesitant at first, Soarez was convinced after doing his own research and after his parents and sister got their vaccines.
“Some protection is better than none,” he said.
Soarez is hoping to travel to Italy this summer once completely vaccinated.
Thank you to all the parents and guardians and students who are pursuing older teens to get the vaccine. Teens and young adults are getting the virus more easily now and more are getting sicker now that the virus variants are spreading around. Getting vaccinated and continuing to wear your mask over your nose and mouth, socializing outdoors whenever possible and staying six feet apart as much as possible will help our country get to herd immunity and reduce the virus spreading and mutating. Keep up the good work.