Now that 5 to 11 year olds are eligible for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, Oak Street Elementary School organized a clinic through the Fairfax County Health Department on Wednesday, November 17 from 1:30 to 7 p.m. as a way to easily vaccinate students.

This timing worked with the short day that the elementary students had, so that students could be vaccinated at the school right after the bell rang. 

Children ages 5 to 11 finally becoming eligible to be vaccinated has come as a relief to parents, teachers and staff members alike.

Executive Director of Special Education and Student Services Rebecca Sharp spoke about how the vaccine incentives kids to remain in an in-person learning environment.

“It’s going to support instructional continuity for the children,” Sharp said. “Because now if they’re fully vaccinated and without symptoms, even if exposed, they won’t have to pause their learning to quarantine.”

“I think the impact will be very positive,” Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly said. “I have a good number of friends with elementary kids who haven’t been going inside restaurants and other places, so I think it will be really good for families. I also think it will be good for playdates, because there won’t be that fear of exposing your child just by letting them play with their friend inside.”

“I think that it will be good for teachers,” Connelly added. “They won’t have large chunks of their class having to quarantine anymore.” 

Rebecca Sharp, one of the event’s organizers, stressed how cooperative the Fairfax County Health Department has been.

“The day the vaccine was approved [for 5-11 year olds] the Health Department called me asking if we could do it and asked about the dates, and I said absolutely,” Sharp said.

Mount Daniel Principal Timothy Kasik hopes that parents will feel more at ease now that their children are being vaccinated.

“I’m hopeful parents will feel a sense of relief,” Kasik said. “It’s great that we might be able to get back to normal, doing things indoors again with our friends and not having to worry about face masks and social distancing as much as we’ve had to over the last several months.”

Julie Hartin, the parent of a 5-year old student attending Mount Daniel, agreed with this.

“I like the idea of more stability.” Hartin said. “Not the in and out of school because of COVID scares. I think it will get the kids back into consistent learning.”

“We don’t have any family that lives near us, so for Thanksgiving we’re getting on a plane,” she continued. “Now it just feels even safer to get on knowing she’s had her first dose.” 

“It gives me a lot of hope and relief that we are coming out of the pandemic,” Kasik said. “This is a major step forward and it will only lead to being able to keep more kids in school in-person more of the time.”