TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is now available to children ages five to 11. Retail pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, and Publix all opened appointment times, this weekend.
"It's been a long time coming," Kimberly Lasher said.
The Fish Hawk, Florida mother of three signed her daughters - ages 11, nine, and six - up to receive their first dose of the CDC recommended 10 microgram dose. On Sunday, the trio will walk out of a nearby Walgreens with matching bandages.
"This was kind of no-brainer for us," Lasher said. “We were kind of always optimistic that it would be by the fall. We were kind of hoping October, but, I mean, early November is just fine.”
“This is something that we have been very, very excited about so we can get our kids protected," Dr. Lisa Cronin, a pediatrician at Children's Medical Center, said.
Cronin speaks as a children's physician and as a mother. She could not wait to get her 10-year-old and seven-year-old immunized with their first doses, Friday night.
“They have not short-cutted anything. They have not rushed anything. They have not cut out any steps in this process," Cronin said.
Cronin told ABC Action News, their phone line was full, this week, from parents calling to schedule vaccination appointments for their children. However, she said, her practice and other pediatric clinics likely will not have any vials of the vaccine for another couple weeks.
In the meantime, she suggests scheduling appointments at retail pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, or Publix. All three stores opened vaccine appointments for this weekend.
Visit their websites or download their apps to book an appointment.