Dear Parents and Guardians,
This week, the FDA and CDC officially recommended COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 years old. We encourage you to have your child vaccinated to protect themselves, your family, and the Bay Farm community.
While COVID-19 is generally less serious for school-age children than for older adults, children can become infected, and some may get very sick or suffer serious complications. Children can also spread COVID-19 to others.
The COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective against infection, serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Over 70 percent of Massachusetts youth ages 12-17 have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting your child vaccinated will help limit COVID-19 spread in our school and community, and it can help keep your child and their schoolmates in school.
Please speak to your child’s doctor about their plans to administer the vaccine and raise any questions or concerns you have about the vaccine and your child.
There are also hundreds of vaccination sites across the state that have indicated their willingness to vaccinate children 5 to 11. Many accept walk-in appointments, including CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, Market Basket and other grocery chains, and community health centers.
More information on these sites, as well as safety information and helpful questions and answers, are all available here.
Once your child has been vaccinated, please send a copy of their vaccination documentation to school. It is important that we keep track of the number of children who have received their vaccination because once our school reaches a certain percentage of vaccinated students, we will be able to dramatically reduce our mask-wearing and gathering size policies.
As a reminder:
- The COVID vaccine is free for all, and no ID or insurance is needed to be vaccinated;
- Getting your family vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones.
All of us at Bay Farm appreciate your help to keep all of our students, faculty, staff, and volunteers, as well as our community, safe and healthy this fall and all year long.
- Conrad Wildsmith