Mary Molina gets her COVID-19 booster shot on Monday afternoon at the Socorro Public Health bulding. The number of people coming in for vaccines has declined somewhat since the holidays.
Cathy Cook| El Defensor Chieftain

 

Pediatric COVID-19 boosters for ages 5-11 soon will be available at the Socorro Public Health Office.

Starting Monday, the office will expand its offerings to include vaccines for ages 5-11. Teenagers and adults can already get their COVID-19 vaccine or booster there. Vaccines are available Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be made at vaccinenm.org or by calling the public health office.

Consent forms for teens, age 12-17 can be signed online, but consent forms for younger kids, age 5-11, will have to be signed physically at the health office.

The National Guard has been helping the public health office with testing for the last 18 months and with administering vaccines since February, almost a year, said Jackie Muncy, who manages health promotion for Socorro County. They administer 50-75 vaccines per day and 100 tests per day. Testing requests have increased as case numbers have risen in local schools.

Brenda and Justin Coriz came all the way from Los Lunas for their booster shots Monday. They could not find booster shot appointments in their area until March or April, so they made the drive down to Socorro.

“We’re grandparents and we are concerned,” said Justin. Ensuring the safety of their grandkids, who are too young to be vaccinated, is what motivated them to get the booster.

After nearly a year of vaccinations, the site staff try to focus on the positives when people come in for vaccination.

“We try to make it joyful,” said Muncy.

The public health office is located at 214 Neel Street, Socorro.

 

Cathy Cook, Editor, El Defensor Chieftain