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Three clinics will offer COVID vaccinations to teenagers

WBFO file photo

With proms and graduations coming up, Erie County is hoping to make a dent in the rapidly rising health problem of teens who are hit with COVID.

While not saying how many doses it obtained, the Erie County Health Department says it has obtained enough Pfizer vaccine doses to have three vaccine clinics on Saturday, in McKinley High School, ECC South and ECC North.

The Pfizer vaccine will only be given to those 16 and 17 because that’s the only vaccine, so far, allowed for that age group.

The 18-year-olds who show up will get the Moderna vaccine.

The county had not been expecting to get the Pfizer shots until later in May. In a statement, Health Commissioner Doctor Gale Burstein says vaccinations for teens are important with the spring and summer social season approaching and offering another safety measure for those young people. Parental consent is required for those 16 and 17-year-olds.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.