Novant Health Gearing Up To Provide COVID-19 Shots To Adolescents

Novant Health is gearing up to give Pfizer COVID-19 shots to 12 to 15-year-olds amid reports that federal officials will authorize it for use in that age group soon. 

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to clear the vaccine for use in adolescents as early as next week after high efficacy rates were shown in clinical trials. 

Novant Senior Vice President Dr. David Priest says the expansion will bring the U.S. one step closer to achieving herd immunity. And, he says, it won't be hard for Novant to transition to the new age group. 

“We've done this before – at first it was over age sixty-five and the age came down and now we're down to 16," said Priest. "We're very familiar with the process of quickly changing, shifting gears to allow us to operationalize vaccinating whichever group is next in line. So this would be no different to that.”

Priest says as demand for shots continues to fall in the Triad, it's likely that Novant will begin to transition away from mass vaccination clinics. 

“More and more, you'll see this within physician offices and for this age group it would be no different,” said Priest. 

Forsyth County recently opted to close its mass vaccination clinic due to low demand. Novant's clinics remain open, though Priest says the health system is mulling whether to cut hours.

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