JCPS Holds 2nd Dose Vaccination Clinics

Students and families vaccinated at JCPS clinics 3 weeks ago eligible for shots

December 4, 2021 – Eleanor Whitehead wasn’t nervous at all about getting her second shot against Covid-19. Dressed in her pink skirt and matching face mask, the Kenwood Elementary School second grader was looking forward to getting to do things that had been put on hold for nearly two years because of the pandemic – including birthday parties.

picture of the whitehead family at the second vaccine clinic for JCPS
“We can go more places and see our friends and families, because last year we couldn’t see our friends and families because of Covid,” she said.

Eleanor and her brother Edwin were among the nearly 4,000 Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) students and family members who were eligible to receive their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the district’s vaccination clinics, which are being held at 24 school sites throughout the weekend. JCPS staff members were able to receive Pfizer booster shots at the event as well.

“We are on our way to having over 3,000 5-11 year-olds being fully vaccinated, and that’s very exciting,” said Dr. Eva Stone, district manager for JCPS Health Services. “We know that the latest variant is out there and that should remind us all how very important these mitigation strategies are. Vaccination is one of many strategies, but we’ve got to continue this layered approach to continue to protect our students, families and staff.”

This will be the largest vaccine clinic in the region for ages 5-11, according to Bobby Sturgeon, CEO of SphereDX, which conducted the clinics.

“We continue to see families be excited about being vaccinated,” Sturgeon said. “Last time … they were excited, they supported each other, there was a lot of hand clapping. There’s a lot of great things going on right now with the vaccine, so we’re happy to be a part of that again.”

Parent Amy Whitehead agreed.

“As a parent I’m very excited,” Whitehead said. “After the first dose we felt OK letting Eleanor have a birthday party outside the house. That was a pretty big moment. And we’re planning Edwin’s birthday party now, which will be his first one in two years. The vaccine lets the kids have those experiences. We’re just really excited to have them fully vaccinated."