Marlborough students receive COVID-19 vaccines 

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By Vicki Greene, Contributing Writer

Marlborough students receive COVID-19 vaccines 
A Whitcomb Middle School student receives a shirt at Marlborough’s school vaccination clinic after receiving his vaccine on May 26. (Photo/via Marlborough Board of Health)

MARLBOROUGH—Through a collaborative effort between the school district, the Board of Health and UMass-Marlborough Hospital staff, students over the age of 12, with parental consent, are being vaccinated against COVID-19 during the school day at both Marlborough’s high school and at the middle school.  

The first dose was administered during the school day on May 26 by hospital nurses who traveled to the high school and middle school, with 300 students expected to get vaccinated, according to Superintendent Michael Bergeron. 

Hospital staff will now return to both schools on Wednesday, June 16, to administer second doses.

The federal Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on an emergency use basis for students ages 12 to 15 on May 10. Before that, only those ages 16 and over were able to receive their shots. 

Pfizer’s remained the only vaccine available to individuals under the age of 18 as of May 26.

That remained true even as vaccine availability increased throughout recent months.

In the wake of the federal government’s announcement, Bergeron told the School Committee May 25 that this effort came together quickly. 

More middle school students signed up than high school students. Bergeron said he believes that was because students over the age of 16 had been approved by the FDA first and may have already received their first dose, either through their employer or at a site in the area.

 

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