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Now that youth aged 12 to 15 have been cleared by the FDA for COVID-19 vaccines, what鈥檚 the best way to encourage those nearly to get vaccinated?

Letting them skip class to receive their shots doesn鈥檛 hurt.

That鈥檚 the winning approach East Hartford, Connecticut took in late April when the district organized a 鈥渟tudent skip day鈥� to help approximately of the coronavirus vaccine. Throughout the day, school buses shuttled students to and from an outdoor clinic complete with staffers in costume as lime green yard goats 鈥� the mascot for Hartford鈥檚 minor league baseball team 鈥� dancing to tunes served up by a DJ over vibrating loudspeakers.

鈥淚 hate shots,鈥� East Hartford senior Ayanna Lavinier told The 74, 鈥渂ut the music and everybody being there and it being quick 鈥� it was fun.鈥� Getting to ditch class to get vaccinated 鈥渄efinitely鈥� didn鈥檛 hurt, she added.

But while the hyped-up scene may be unique to East Hartford, the school-based vaccination strategy is being used by districts across the country.

Last week in Edina, Minnesota, an helped get 309 people vaccinated, organizers said. Students across Nassau County, New York, are working as in return for community service hours. to eligible students over the course of May. And in Chicago, the teachers union is calling for 鈥溾�� to bring youth to vaccine clinics.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran hopes that the strategy of using youth ambassadors to answer peers鈥� questions will instill confidence in the COVID shots. The Long Island teens are trained to field all student questions, from vaccine side effects to worries over whether inoculation may impact future fertility. (It .)

鈥淚t’s one thing for 鈥� the grownups in your life to tell you to [get vaccinated],鈥� Curran told The 74. 鈥淏ut when it’s your own peers, someone that you like, someone who’s a friend, someone that you trust, I think it has a certain resonance.鈥�

Nicolette Carrion, who graduated high school in 2020 and now attends Georgetown University, is working with the county as a youth ambassador. Sometimes, she has to dispel blatant misinformation teens have heard online or through word of mouth, she said, and sometimes she needs to confront historical distrust of the medical establishment among Black peers.

In the face of understandable concern, Carrion, who is herself African American, reminds hesitant young people that 鈥淏lack doctors help[ed] in the formulation of the vaccine.鈥� But mostly, she gives them time to process.

鈥淚t’s very important to be empathetic and patient with people who have these worries,鈥� Carrion told The 74.

Nassau schools are rewarding youth ambassadors with two full days of community service for their efforts. And students receiving the vaccine during the May 13-16 campaign are credited six hours per shot, which count toward annual school quotas students must fulfill.

鈥淚t really is community service when you think about it,鈥� said Curran, the Nassau executive. 鈥淚f we have good vaccination rates, that means businesses can function normally, society can function normally, we’re protecting our grandparents, school can open normally.鈥�

Anne Griffiths, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Minnesota who helped coordinate the Edina event, stressed that it鈥檚 key to bring vaccines directly to students.

鈥淚t was important to have it be available at the high school,鈥� she told The 74. 鈥淸It] takes off some of the burden of transportation, time off work for parents and arranging for child care.鈥�

Many students in the Minneapolis suburb, she said, were excited that full vaccination could allow them to bypass the district鈥檚 quarantine policy. With both doses, exposure to someone who tests COVID-19 positive would not mean a two-week hiatus from classes, sports and other extracurriculars, given the vaccinated student is not showing symptoms of the virus.

鈥淭his [shot] might increase the likelihood that they could stay involved in their classes and activities,鈥� Griffiths explained.

After a study of 1,983 adolescents found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be 100 percent effective for youth aged 12 to 15 鈥� with 鈥� the FDA expanded clearance to that age group on Monday.

Anticipating the federal agency鈥檚 move, Edina already has an event on the books this Friday to offer shots to students 12 and older, Griffiths said, provided that on Wednesday, the CDC also recommends the vaccine for use in 12 to 15 year olds 鈥� as most observers expect it will.

The district also has a follow-up vaccine clinic planned to deliver second doses to high schoolers who received shots last week.

Benjamin Linas, Boston University associate professor of epidemiology, hopes that schools across the country will follow Edina鈥檚 lead, becoming a community hub for COVID-19 shots and information.

He envisions schools stepping up to help with vaccinations as they did over a half century ago during the polio epidemic.

鈥淲e offered the vaccine in schools to children, and parents across America eagerly signed their kids up,鈥� Linas observes. 鈥淭here are 鈥� lessons to be had from the polio experience.鈥�

Polling indicates that, currently, many parents may be hesitant to let their kids receive coronavirus shots. Only , while another 26 percent said they would wait and see how the vaccine was working, the New York Times reported last week.

School policies, however, may have the power to sway parental preferences. An additional 18 percent of parents said they would allow their children to receive shots if it were a school requirement.

The likelihood, however, of school vaccine mandates this fall remains low, says Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Hastings and a specialist in the legal intricacies of vaccination policy. That鈥檚 because such decisions are made at the state level, rather than on a school-by-school basis, and the process can be tricky.

Two key issues currently bar state-level action, Reiss told The 74. First, while coronavirus shots currently have emergency authorization status, the FDA has yet to issue full approval to vaccines. Pfizer and BioNTech to the federal agency on May 7 for full clearance, but the process will likely take weeks, if not months.

鈥淚 think a lot of states will wait on full FDA approval to move on this,鈥� said Reiss. 鈥淣o state has ever added a vaccine that wasn鈥檛 recommended and I don鈥檛 think they will.鈥�

But even if approval were granted quickly, another snag remains: , according to the latest estimates. That means that politicians hoping to add COVID vaccines to schools鈥� required lists would have to repeat the process for younger students soon after.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think any politician would want to do it twice,鈥� said the law professor. 鈥淲hen they do it, it will be when they can pass it for the whole K-12 [system].鈥�

So in the meantime, schools looking to heighten COVID-19 protections next year may well focus on providing wide access to shots, rather than mandating them.

For students like Lavinier of East Hartford, who is scheduled to receive her second dose on May 17, getting vaccinated through her school鈥檚 event represented a key step toward a return to life as she once knew it.

鈥淚 just want life to go back to normal,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a really rough year.鈥�

Once she鈥檚 fully vaccinated, the high school senior looks forward to hanging out with friends, going out to dinner with her family and having what will, fingers crossed, be a more regular first year at college in the fall.

Thinking about life post-second dose, 鈥渋t feels good,鈥� said Lavinier. 鈥淐lear future.鈥�

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