Published: Friday, November 4, 2022
LANSING, MI – Sparrow Health System recently received 6,000 does of the new Pfizer COVID bivalent vaccine booster for children as young as five years old and for the first time is offering the new shot at our Sparrow Medical Group Primary Care practices.
Those eligible for the booster shot are young patients immunized with the original vaccine or who received their last booster at least two months ago.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending updated COVID boosters for people as young as five ahead of an expected winter wave of viruses. The newly authorized shot is designed to broaden immune defenses against the original strain of the coronavirus and omicron subvariants. Sparrow saw a slight increase in COVID cases last week, with the seven-day rolling average of new cases up 6 percent from the prior week. The rates of those testing positive were also up slightly, highlighting the need for the safe and effective vaccine.
Parents should schedule a vaccine appointment with their child’s Sparrow SMG practice or ask about it during a regularly scheduled office visit. As with previous COVID-19 boosters, co-administration of the COVID-19 bivalent booster with other vaccines, such as flu, is safe and strongly encouraged for eligible patients.
With our highly skilled physicians and caregivers, Sparrow is proud to bring leading-edge COVID care to Mid-Michigan. Sparrow was one of the first hospitals in Michigan to offer COVID tests to inpatients and has performed more than 872,000 PRC COVID-19 tests since the start of the pandemic, many at the innovative Sparrow Laboratories Drive-Thru Services site at Frandor in Lansing.
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Sparrow is Mid-Michigan’s premier healthcare organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia, and St. Johns, as well as Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Physicians Health Plan, Sparrow Care Network, Sparrow Medical Group and the Michigan Athletic Club. Sparrow is affiliated with Michigan Medicine through the Sparrow Children’s Center and with Michigan State University’s three human health colleges. Through these partnerships and the dedication of our 10,000 Caregivers, Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and Patient experience. For more information, visit Sparrow.org.