Many students at LHS, those 16 years or older, are now eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccine, including at a clinic being held at the school in mid-May.

Students ages 16 or 17 who wish to receive a vaccination must get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as that is the only vaccine tested and approved for those age groups. Seniors who are 18 are eligible for the Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. At this time, freshmen and sophomores who are 14 and 15 are ineligible for a Covid-19 vaccination.

Earlier this week, LHS announced that it will be holding a vaccination clinic. The two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be administered to students 16 and older who sign up. First shots will take place on May 11 or May 12 and second doses will be administered June 1 or June 2.

This vaccine clinic will be held by Passport Health, the district’s Covid-19 testing partner. District Superintendent Prentiss Lea shared over email that the upcoming vaccine clinic was just another layer to the district’s partnership with Passport Health. 

“When the Food & Drug Administration granted vaccine maker Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to students 16 and older, I contacted [Passport Health] about the possibility of partnering to provide vaccinations to our students 16 years and older,” he explained. “Since we already had an existing partnership and excellent working relationship with Dr. (Scott) Morcott and his Passport Health team, the FDA announcement simply opened the door to expand that partnership to student vaccinations.”

Dr. Lea also wanted to thank all of the people on the D128 testing and vaccination planning team for all of their work handling complicated logistics. 

“None of this could have happened without their dedicated, skilled efforts on top of doing their regular jobs,” he said.

According to the email sent by LHS principal Tom Koulentes, “The vaccination is free, regardless if you have insurance coverage. However, families are asked to provide insurance information so that the Illinois Department of Public Health can bill insurance companies directly. This will have no impact on your coverage, deductibles or premiums.”

The email also noted that a consent form is required and should be brought to the appointment. Students 16 and 17 need parental consent and students 18 and older can provide their own consent.

Parents of students were emailed a form to sign up for vaccine appointments. The deadline to complete the form is April 30.

If the LHS vaccine clinic is not convenient or possible for everyone, there are other ways students can receive a vaccine appointment, such as through local pharmacies and groceries stores like Walgreens, Jewel-Osco, CVS and Mariano’s. 

Appointments for vaccines at these stores can be made online, on their websites. Once someone finds an available appointment, a location and time can be selected.

Senior Tyler Bever received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Walgreens and encouraged all LHS students to get the vaccine.

“[The vaccine] helps us. It allows us to open up our state a bit more in the future. [In] a couple of weeks here, hopefully we can get back to close to normal,” he said. “The more people that are vaccinated, they’ll tell their families about it, they’ll tell their friends about it and they’ll motivate them to get vaccinated. It’s like a chain reaction.”

Bever also emphasized that he feels there should be no reason why one shouldn’t get vaccinated compared to the risks of catching and spreading Covid-19.

“[Many people] over 18 [years old] have gotten the vaccine, so you’re not just 1%. The problems [with the vaccines] are so minimal. You’re more likely still to die from Covid than die from the vaccine, so the benefits beyond outweigh the risks,” said Bever.

Instead of scanning through individual online vaccine portals, a website was created by an Illinois resident that automatically scans popular vaccine locations’ websites every couple of minutes and shows availability. On ilvaccine.org (https://www.ilvaccine.org), a county can be easily selected. From there, locations with availability can be viewed and the age groups and requirements of the location also appear. Links can be found under each location to book appointments.

AllVax, a website created by the Lake County Health Department, can also be a useful resource to secure a vaccine appointment at one of several Lake County mass vaccination sites led by the health department, such as one at the Lake County Fairgrounds.

“The Lake County Health Department’s COVID-19 vaccine supply has dramatically increased over the past two weeks, with nearly 47,000 first doses coming this week alone,” said Mark Pfister, executive director at the Lake County Health Department in a recent press release.

Appointments can be made at allvax.lakecohealth.org