Little People, Big Deal

The vaccine recipients and dose sizes may be smaller, but the collective impact on the fight against the continuing COVID-19 pandemic is large.

With children age 5-11 now eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s mobile vaccine unit is working with schools across the region to provide vaccine clinics.

“We’re proud to provide this service, to make it easier for people to be protected by bringing the vaccine to them. It’s all part of being a compassionate health care partner and it’s what community is all about.” – Laura Williams, LVHN mobile vaccine clinic coordinator.

The first of those school-based clinics took place Thursday, Nov. 11 when LVHN partnered with the Southern Lehigh School District at Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School in Center Valley.

“We had nearly 40 schools contact us about a mobile clinic visit just in the first few days after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine received emergency use authorization for children 5-11,” said Laura Williams, LVHN’s coordinator for the mobile vaccine unit clinics. “We’re proud to provide this service, to make it easier for people to be protected by bringing the vaccine to them. It’s all part of being a compassionate health care partner and it’s what community is all about.”

Parent Courtney Best came to the clinic with daughter Ruby, 10, and son William, 9, the two youngest of her five children. “We’re on our way to being a fully vaccinated family,” says Best. “We’re here because we believe in the science and want to do our part to help the community.” For his part, William says he just doesn’t want to get sick.

Anna Arellano came to the school with her fourth-grader son, Miles. Everyone else in the family had their vaccine and she wanted Miles to be protected as well. “We’re just trying to do our part to help everybody in the community,” she says.

If your school is hosting the LVHN mobile vaccine unit, please use the registration link provided by the school to schedule your child. Walk-ins are not allowed.

If you don’t participate in a school-based clinic, there are five stand-alone vaccine clinics across the region, as well as two LVPG Pediatrics practices offering COVID-19 vaccinations for all eligible groups. There are two easy ways to schedule your child’s appointment, or an appointment for yourself, if you haven’t been vaccinated:

1. Go to MyLVHN, the health network’s patient portal:
   Sign In Sign Up

You may need to request proxy access to your child’s MyLVHN account to schedule their appointment. To do so, please contact your child’s provider. If your child does not have an LVHN provider, please call 888-402-LVHN (5846).

1. Call our COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 833-584-6283 (833-LVHN-CVD). We’re open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Pediatric specialists from Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital will be hosting a virtual information session on child COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday, Nov. 17, from 5:30-6:15 p.m. Learn more and register at LVHN.org/parentsessions.

For more vaccination information, visit LVHN.org/vaccines.