Baltimore County Students Line Up For Covid Vaccine At School Clinics
REISTERSTOWN, Md. (WJZ) - Teenagers are now in line to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Many schools in our area are converting into adolescent vaccine sites, making it a pretty easy process for the thousands of teens now eligible who say they're looking forward to taking off their masks once all or most of their friends are vaccinated.
A consensus among many Baltimore County students is that getting the Covid shot brings them closer to more normal times. More than 250 students and staff have been vaccinated already at one of Baltimore County school's locations.
"It was exciting," said Brenden Grace, a sixth-grader at Franklin Middle School.
Jawaun Reed, a senior at Franklin High School, just got his first dose.
"It was very simple," Reed said. "I think it'll make it easier for students to come back to school so you can get the hands-on learning."
Baltimore County says its goal is to return all students to full-time in-person instruction.
"We'll have a lot less contact tracing. Kids will actually be able to come to school without fearing that they're going to get sick as much and hopefully they won't have to be masked all the time," said Andrea Loes, school nurse at Franklin High.
Gabby Unger, a Franklin High student, is looking forward to just that.
"To contribute to herd immunity, so that we can all just get back to normal," she said.
At another adolescent clinic at the Town Mall in Westminster, more than 1,110 teenagers are getting the first dose.
Maryland Health Secretary Dennis Schrader said the state now is working to vaccinate 455,000 12- to 17-year-olds.
"The key there is to allow them to get back to normal, but also we're finding younger people are spreading the disease and we need to stop that spread," Schrader said.
For Mia Cleveland, a sixth-grader at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School, once she steps back into her classroom, she doesn't have to worry as much about the threat of Covid.
"I know it's been cleared and verified that kids can get it, so why not? And I've heard it's good and there's less chance of getting Covid, so I thought, 'Why not, just get it,'" she said.
Many of these school vaccine clinics are open on Wednesdays. The next one is May 26 at eight different Baltimore County schools:
- Chesapeake High, second doses: June 1, 3
- Dundalk High, second doses: June 1, 2, 4
- Kenwood High, second doses: June 2, 4
- Owings Mills High, first doses: May 17, 19, 20 / second doses: June 7, 9, 10
- Parkville High (also serving students from Loch Raven High for first doses on May 19 & second doses on June 9), first doses, May 18, 19, 21; second doses: June 8, 9, 11
- Lansdowne High, first doses, May 24, 26, 28; second doses: June 14, 16, 17
- Woodlawn High, first doses: May 25, 26, 28; second doses: June 15, 16, 18
Each clinic location will only serve students, their families, and staff affiliated with the school unless otherwise noted. These vaccine clinics will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
