State Community Partners Vaccination Program Provides COVID-19 Vaccinations for Forest Park School District 91 Vaccination Day

Children ages 5-11 years receive their first doses of vaccine

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) Community Partners Vaccination Program teamed up with Forest Park School District 91 to help vaccinate children ages 5-11 years.  The Forest Park School District dedicated today to vaccinating children in the school district, as well as parents and guardians.  Two COVID-19 vaccination clinics were scheduled from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at Betsy Ross Elementary and Grant White Elementary.  More than 1,000 vaccines were available for students, parents, guardians, and anyone wanting a COVID-19 vaccine.

“While children typically do not suffer severe COVID-19, cases do occur and we have seen hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 among children,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.  “Because there is no way at this time to identify who will suffer severe illness, or who will go on to have long-term effects of COVID-19 after being infected, I recommend vaccination as the best prevention method to keep children safe.  If parents have questions or concerns about the vaccine, please reach out to your doctor, pediatrician, or other health care provider to talk about it and get the facts.”

In clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in children ages 5 through 11 years. 

“COVID-19 has been very unpredictable, so we need to be ahead of it and proactive,” said Forest Park School District 91 Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Álvarez.  “Getting ahead of this pandemic is important to all of us at D91. As soon as the vaccine was approved for children we knew we had to do something, fast to get our children protected. As an elementary district composed of children 12 and younger this vaccine will have a major impact on the safety of our school community. The decision was made to have vaccination awareness days prior to the holiday and host vaccination sites because we need to be a part of the action that supports the safety, protection, and well-being of our students, their families, our staff, and the greater Forest Park community.”

“Raising the village's ‘fully vaccinated’ to 80% has been a goal of village's council, so we're happy to partner with D. 91 and the State to get closer to reaching that mark,” said Forest Park Mayor Rory E. Hoskins.”

Schools, organizations, and events that would like to host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic and need assistance can submit an application at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinationclinics.html. 

“The Community Partners Vaccination Program is a whole-community approach to the vaccination process,” said IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau.  “The program has been successful in improving access and availability of the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the state. The program allows neighbors to help neighbors get the healthcare they need in a familiar community setting and that reduces the barriers often associated with equitable health care.”

After getting vaccinated, we encourage people to use v-safe, a free, easy-to-use, and confidential smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after your child receives a COVID-19 vaccination.  Through v-safe, you can report how your child is feeling after getting vaccinated.  V-safe also reminds you when to get your child’s second dose.  Learn more about v-safe and share this tool with other parents and caregivers to use after vaccination.

Pfizer Inc. will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine and will be required to report to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, along with providers, all serious adverse events, cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, cases that result in hospitalization or death, and vaccine administration errors.