NEWS RELEASE: San Diego Unified School District Extends COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics

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News Release

San Diego Unified Expands Free COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics to Reach Younger Students Now Eligible for Vaccines

UCSD, Sharp will continue clinics at select high schools to encourage vaccines in communities with limited access

May 17, 2021

SAN DIEGO – COVID-19 vaccination clinics at select San Diego high schools will continue this week in an effort to reach students as young as 12 who are now eligible for the vaccine.

The San Diego Unified School District has collaborated with UC San Diego Health and Sharp HealthCare to host the clinics at district high schools located in communities with some of the lowest vaccination rates. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as 12.

All school-based clinics are open to students, staff, families and community members. Students who attend the school hosting the clinic need a signed parent consent form to get a vaccine; other students will be required to have a parent present.

"We are encouraging everyone who is eligible for a vaccine to get one as soon as they can, " said Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, vice president of the San Diego Unified Board of Education. "By bringing vaccines directly to students and families at our schools, UCSD and Sharp are making it easy and convenient to protect ourselves and our communities from the virus."

UCSD will administer the Pfizer vaccine (and provide dates for the necessary follow-up vaccines) from 10 a.m. a.m. to 4 p.m. on a walk-in basis at the following schools:

* Monday, May 17, and Tuesday, May 18, at Hoover and Lincoln high schools
* Wednesday, May 19, and Thursday, May 20, at Morse and San Diego high School

Sharp will administer the Pfizer vaccine (and provide dates for the necessary follow-up vaccines) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on a walk-in basis at the following schools:

* Tuesday, May 18, at Mira Mesa High School
* Wednesday, May 19, at Madison High School
* Thursday, May 20, at Mission Bay High School

"Now that children as young as 12 are eligible for vaccinations, it is important that vaccines continue to be accessible in all communities. Vaccinating everyone who is eligible helps us get closer to "herd immunity," where the virus transmission rate is low, and it also helps reduce the chances for producing new variants. The virus needs to replicate and be passed along, in order to produce new variants," San Diego Unified Pediatrician Dr. Howard Taras said.

For more information on vaccine clinics and for copies of the parent consent form, please visit the Nursing and Wellness COVID-19 Vaccine webpage.<https://sites.google.com/sandi.net/nursingwellness/covid-19-vaccine>

Vaccines have also been offered to San Diego Unified employees who want one. San Diego Unified will reopen in the fall for the 2021-22 school year with a traditional schedule of five full days of in-person instruction each week.

San Diego Unified requires that school employees receive regular COVID-19 tests, and offers the tests to students. Schools provide air filtration and ventilation, require staff and students to wear masks, follow social-distancing protocols, offer hand sanitizer, and frequently clean campuses.

MEDIA CONTACT: Communications Director Maureen Magee, mmagee@sandi.net<mailto:mmagee@sandi.net>, (619) 381-7930