Longfellow Middle School will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in partnership with the city of Berkeley and Carbon Health.

The clinic will provide first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccination to students ages 5 years and older, according to the school’s principal Paco Furlan. Furlan added that booster shots are available for students ages 12 years and older who received their second doses at least five months ago.

Trish McDermott, Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, spokesperson, said the clinic will also be open to parents or guardians, family members, friends and neighbors.

Community members will be required to preregister at the Carbon Health website, McDermott said. She added that clinics at schools create a sense of community and help improve how children experience the vaccine. 

“The feedback we hear in general from parents and guardians that bring their students to get vaccinated is that getting vaccinated at a school site feels welcoming and very community-focused,” McDermott said. “Children can play on our outdoor play structures after they receive their vaccines where they can see their friends and community members, which makes a real difference in how they experience getting the vaccine.”

McDermott added that accessibility to vaccines has been BUSD’s priority, emphasizing that the district schedules clinics at different locations and different times of the day and week to provide everyone with the opportunity to get vaccinated.

The district is also providing information communicating the “safety and efficacy” of the COVID-19 vaccine through resources at school events to encourage people to get vaccinated, according to McDermott.

“This is a great opportunity for our students and for our community,” Furlan said. “There’s a lot of folks for whom access can be an issue. This makes it easy, and that’s a great thing.”