HHS and ED Outline Steps for School Leaders to Encourage Vaccinations Among Children

On November 8, HHS Secretary Becerra and Education Secretary Cardona released a letter to school superintendents and elementary principals asking them to take a series of steps to encourage vaccinations among children, including: 

1. Host a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at Your School(s) 

The CDC, in partnership with HHS and ED, developed resources and an easy-to-follow toolkit for schools to use in standing clinics up. The main responsibilities of a vaccine clinic host are to provide space and lead community engagement; a vaccineprovider enrolled in the CDC COVID-19 vaccination program (e.g., a health department, pharmacy, or others in your community) is responsible for storage, handling, and administration of doses. Many providers have scheduling and consent tools that can be shared with parents and families to make sign up as easy as possible.

2. Distribute Information About the COVID-19 Vaccine to All Families with Children Ages Five Through Eleven Years Old

Reach out to all families with children ages five through eleven years old in your school community to provide information from trusted sources about the vaccine, and to help them learn where they can get vaccinated. Education leaders can share this one-page fact sheet, post on social media using these materials, email parents about the importance of getting vaccinated and direct them to the CDC COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens website, and partner with local community-based organizations to reach parents in accessible ways.

3. Hold Conversations with School Communities on the COVID-19 Vaccine

Finally, Secretaries Becerra and Cardona ask that education leaders host community engagements on the COVID-19 vaccines with parents and school communities, in partnership with local pediatricians and other trusted medical voices in their area.

They encourage reaching out to pediatricians, family physicians, hospitals, early care and education programs, other child and family serving organizations, and other medical partners and providers in the community to host these engagements. If needed, leaders may reach out to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or other local medical associations to get connected with a local pediatrician, family physician, or other clinician to invite to participate or speak at vaccine-related events. To invite a pediatrician to speak to your community about the COVID-19 vaccine, reach out to kids1st@aap.org to make a request and share the details of your event.