ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (NBC 26) — As the president and CEO of Prevea Health, Dr. Ashok Rai has helped thousands of locals get the vaccine.
Now, he has a chance to get his own children immunized against Covid-19.
"We have two in our household that are under the age of 12 that qualify for the vaccine, so I'm relieved," Rai said.
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As soon as Friday, Northeast Wisconsin children 5 to 11 can get a dose of their own.
"We hope we get 80 percent uptake — but say we get 50 percent uptake — that's still a lot of kids to get through, so we need to set realistic expectations," Rai said.
Prevea is administering the latest doses at 11 different clinics across the state. It starts Monday in Green Bay.
"We could technically, probably start to give it tonight or tomorrow," Rai said. "But our goal is to do it right, to do it safe and to make sure everybody's gone through their education."
Some local CVS pharmacies — including locations in Appleton and Green Bay — will distribute the kid-sized vaccines as soon as Sunday.
"To date, we've given over 43 million Covid vaccines to obviously adults and the adolescent 12 and older population once that was approved," CVS Health District Leader Ashlee Slocum said. "So we absolutely have been preparing for this."
Bellin Health is starting its rollout on Friday. Operations leader Sherry LaFond says parents are signing up at a rapid pace.
"We knew we would have early adapters," LaFond said. "We knew we would have parents who were ready with their children to come on in and do that. So that didn't really come as a surprise."
According to LaFond, healthcare systems were allowed to order a maximum of 1,500 doses at a time. They can order more as needed.
"We are well practiced up with kids," she said. "We've been doing flu shots from age 6 months and up."
With just a few slots remaining, Bellin still anticipates it'll have enough shots for those who want it.
"We're here in the community," LaFond said. "This is what we do. This is who we're here for. So it's really a good feeling."
To sign up for an appointment with Prevea, Rai urges families to use thesystem's website. Bellin appointments can be scheduled on the phone or online.
Parents can find a CVS location offering vaccines for young children on the company's website.
