LITTLE CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV) – The Pfizer vaccine is approved and ready for kids aged five to 11 and local health care providers say it’s the best way to protect children from COVID-19.

“The vaccine and being able to vaccinate this population will create a higher level of immunity in our community and it gets us closer to the end of the pandemic,” explained Prevea President and CEO Dr. Ashok Rai.

Healthcare providers say getting the shots to kids requires preparation.

Sherry LaFond, the Team Leader of Business Operations for Primary Care at Bellin Health said, “We’ve worked through a lot of our process, getting our electronic medical record ready. So we’ve been prepping for this and we’ve really been testing out all of our processes.”

“It’s of a different dose, it comes in a different vial and it is mixed a little differently,” added Dr. Rai. “We want to make sure that the environment is set up correctly and that the education is done correctly so that whoever is administering this vaccine to your child is trained to do so.”

The health officials say they understand parents may have some apprehension about giving the shot to their child, but want to assure them it is tested and safe.

“So if you have the opportunity to protect your child, all of us would do that, especially if that opportunity has been proven to be safe and it works and that’s the approach I took through the decision making for our own children and it’s the same approach I hope everybody would take,” said Dr. Rai.

Parents looking for a place to have their child vaccinated medical experts suggest talking with their doctor first.

Both Bellin Health and Aurora Health Care will start their vaccinations for kids ages 5-11 on Friday, Nov. 5. You can learn more about Bellin here and Aurora here.

Prevea Health will start on Monday, Nov. 8. Click here to learn more.