PLATTSBURGH — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that 120 new #VaxtoSchool pop-up COVID vaccination sites will take place over the next 12 weeks.

Hochul’s office announced the #VaxtoSchool campaign, aimed at increasing vaccination rates among school-aged New Yorkers, earlier this month.

“Since becoming governor four weeks ago, I’ve made it clear that we need to bring children, teachers and staff back to school safely,” Hochul said in a statement.

“With these pop-up vaccinations sites, we are ramping up our #VaxtoSchool campaign on the road and going into communities where vaccination rates are still lagging among young New Yorkers, so we can reach as many families as possible and make our schools safer for students and staff.”

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Weekly events

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According to a press release, the state Department of Health will work with localities, community-based organizations and health care centers to establish the new sites in all regions of the state, which will host two new events per week.

Community-based medical professionals will be on-site to answer any questions. Additionally, #VaxtoSchool buses will be launched in convenient youth and school-centric areas, such as public recreational spaces, the release said.

A new website dedicated to the initiative, which will list information like pop-up site locations, has been launched at ny.gov/vaxtoschool. Additionally, the state has created a new Instagram channel, @VaccinateNY, aimed at educating school-aged children and their families about the COVID vaccine, the release said.

Currently, children ages 12 to 17 are eligible for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It has been fully approved for those age 16 and older, and is available under emergency use authorization for 12- to 15-year-olds.

Information on where to get vaccinated is listed on page A8.

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Reduces risk

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Essex County Health Department Program Coordinator Andrea Whitmarsh said her agency was contacted Tuesday about the program and the plan to hold vaccination events in each region of the state.

“ECHD continues to prioritize increased vaccination for all those requesting it. The department will work in collaboration with the program to deliver accurate and consistent messaging regarding vaccination of this age group and in support of the efforts to increase vaccination rates in eligible school-aged children.

“This program is still in the planning and implementation phases as we await updated guidance on vaccination authorizations for the 5 to 11 age group,” she noted. Pfizer said this week that its vaccine works in that age group and that it plans to seek emergency authorization soon.

Clinton County Health Department Principal Public Health Educator Molly Flynn said CCHD hopes to have a site in the area, but that the list of locations had not yet been released.

She said eligible school-aged children are welcome to utilize CCHD’s weekly Thursday morning clinics.

“Getting your school-aged children vaccinated helps protect them from developing the virus, reduces the risk of severe illness and death, and helps reduce the number of disruptions in learn due to school exposure,” Flynn said.

“Students who are fully vaccinated and symptom-free are not required to quarantine when exposed to COVID-19.”