Oct. 26, 2021

Minnesota officials expect 170,000 child-specific doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be in the state soon as the federal government is moving toward approval of shots for children between 5 and 11 years old as soon as next week.

Pediatric clinics, pharmacies and other sites are expected to spring up quickly to administer the child doses. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says when the approval comes, the vaccine should be widely available fairly quickly.

"Be patient if your clinic is not scheduling that minute. They are doing this planning as well. So, having this broad ecosystem — the pharmacies well distributed throughout the state — we will be doing a lot of partnerships with school districts and community groups to get vaccine out deeper into the community."

Children have generally been less at risk of serious illness for the virus, but transmission has remained a concern. The Department of Health expects to provide more rollout details Wednesday.