How some Pacific Grove middle and high school students became quite possibly the first 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated against Covid-19 in Monterey County.

Pam Marino here, with a tale that some current Pacific Grove middle and high school students will tell their grandchildren decades from now when recalling the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s all about the fateful day that they were quite possibly the first 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated against Covid-19 in Monterey County, three days ahead of the rest of the nation, which officially started vaccinating that age group as of today.

The tale begins on the afternoon of Monday, May 10, when the volunteer group All-In Monterey and a team from the P.G. pharmacy CAP Rx were conducting a Covid-19 vaccination clinic for 16- to 18-year-olds at Pacific Grove High School.

As CAP Rx Pharmacist Jasmine Chan tells the story, her team brought enough Pfizer vaccines for about 150 vaccinations but weren’t sure if they would use them all, since sign-ups were sparse. They were hopeful that enough students and their parents (since parents must be present for vaccinations of minors) would take advantage and come anyway.

Things started off slow and at one point there were only about 10 students in line. Then all of a sudden the floodgates gates opened, and “there was this massive outpouring of humans,” says Chan, who was not on site but in contact with her team of pharmacists. Her team called the scene chaotic.

It turns out that as the clinic was underway in P.G., 3,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was authorizing the emergency use of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for 12-15 year olds. 

Word went out via text messages and social media among P.G. parents that they could get their younger teens vaccinated. People flocked to the high school and the line grew long.

Now faced with over 100 families clamoring for the vaccine, Chan and her team had to make a decision. The FDA gave its approval, but the plan nationally was to start vaccines for ages 12 and up by the end of the week, after the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reviewed the data and made its recommendation.

Some states warned providers to not administer the vaccines until after the ACIP’s recommendation. In California, state officials wanted the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup to independently weigh in on the data before vaccines for this younger age group could commence.

Chan contends there’s a difference between FDA authorization and recommendations by committees, and it’s best practice to use authorization as the ultimate decider. 

As the one who had to make the call, she weighed the facts in front of her: FDA authorization; her pharmacy’s supply of federally sourced vaccines (as opposed to those from the state, which Chan says she would not have used since state agencies hadn’t given the go-ahead yet); a deadly pandemic that has killed nearly 600,000 people in the U.S.; a line of parents with their students eager to get the vaccine.

She ran with the federal approval and gave the green light to vaccinate the students waiting in line at that moment. She says it was her discretion as a pharmacist to make that call, and she’s glad she did. Vaccinating 12-year-olds in a pandemic—with the FDA’s rigorous scrutiny and authorization—“is the right thing to do,” Chan says.

I checked with two agencies to see if there was any concern about vaccinating the teens ahead of schedule. The Monterey County Health Department said they were aware the P.G. vaccinations took place on Monday, but that it’s up to state agencies. A spokesperson for the California State Board of Pharmacy directed me to a notice to pharmacists which states the agency will investigate complaints of vaccine diversions “undertaken for financial gain.” (The pharmacy can bill insurers for an administrative fee for Covid-19 vaccinations, but that fee is used to cover costs, not profit.)

Now that it’s official, more opportunities for teens to get vaccinated are here. Pharmacies began taking appointments as of today. The county, Montage Health, SVMHS and other providers have appointments and upcoming clinics.

All-In and CAP Rx are vaccinating everyone age 12 and up this Saturday at the Seaside Community Wellness Day, 10am-2pm at Seaside High School. They’ll have both the Pfizer and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines available. Chan says she’ll be encouraging adults to use the J&J, since that vaccine has not received authorization for use by anyone under the age of 18.