MARSHALL — With the COVID-19 vaccine now approved for children age 5 and older, Marshall Public Schools is offering a chance for younger students and their families to get vaccinated.

“We are working with the Department of Health to offer an ages 5 to 11 vaccination clinic,” MPS Superintendent Jeremy Williams said at Monday’s school board meeting.

Williams said registration information for the clinic was sent out to families in the Marshall district on Monday. Registrations can also be made online at the MPS website, www.marshall.k12.mn.us.

“Anyone who’s interested in that, you can click on that. There’s an online registration piece for that,” he said.

The vaccination clinic for students ages 5 to 11 will be held Saturday, Dec. 18, at Southview Elementary. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for children, but some doses will also be available for people ages 12 and older.

“Parents will bring the kids to the site for the vaccination clinic,” Williams said. “There will be some limited doses available for ages 12-plus, and boosters too. So if families come and want to get others taken care of while they’re there, that’s available as well.”

The Pfizer version of the COVID-19 vaccine is a two-dose vaccine. The vaccination clinic will offer the first dose. A second clinic to administer the second dose will be held on Jan. 8, Williams said.

“We’re excited to have that opportunity,” Williams said.

According to the state of Minnesota’s COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, about 58% of Lyon County residents age 5 and older have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine. A total of roughly 14,000 people in Lyon County have received at least one vaccine dose.

The state of Minnesota also offers information on how to find vaccine providers for children and teens, at https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/vaxforkids/.

Area locations currently listed as providing vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 include Sanford Health in Canby, Hy-Vee Pharmacy in Marshall, Thrifty White Pharmacy locations in Marshall, Granite Falls and Slayton, and Walmart Pharmacy locations in Marshall and Redwood Falls.