About 300 people — age 12 and older — got the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 at a clinic held Thursday at Mundelein High School, in partnership with Jewel-Osco and Mundelein School District 75.
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Originally, the vaccination drive was to include people age 16 and up. But after the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer pharmaceutical company was approved for use in children age 12 and older, the drive was expanded to include the 12- to 15-year-olds, said Kevin Quinn, director of facilities and maintenance at MHS.
Quinn said the goal of the drive was part of the school district’s effort to get students back into the classroom full-time starting the upcoming fall semester. He said getting students vaccinated could allow for a return to extracurricular activities and in-person learning without worries of having to go remote or pause.
Students would also have better access to the school’s social resources, he said.
Several other factors could be improved as well by vaccinating younger people, Quinn said. The social and emotional impact of being away from schools and the developing educational gap would both improve, he said.
“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to get students back in school full-time in August,” Quinn said. “The more students that participate in this clinic, the better all of those things come out.”
While the original plan still allowed for a number of high school students to be vaccinated, Quinn said the vaccine eligibility age expansion allowed more students at Mundelein High School and its feeder schools — which are middle schools with students expected to attend MHS — to get the shots.
Of the 1,200 doses available for the clinic, Quinn said 300 were administered. Those who were vaccinated are scheduled to return June 17 for their second dose. Quinn added that the school is looking for other opportunities for vaccination events, going into the summer.
“A lot of students received the vaccination which we feel is a great sign,” Quinn said.
