‘Superhero kids’ get vaccinated at Boston’s Museum of Science  

As well as offering vaccines to children over five, the Museum of Science also requires those two and over to wear face coverings

The Museum of Science in Boston has joined museums across the US to offer vaccines to children age five and over.

Earlier this month the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave the green light to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages five to 11.

At the Museum of Science in Boston vaccines for children began at the weekend and they promoted the vaccine rollout as for superhero kids and their families where they could get vaccinated and receive ‘two free Exhibit Halls passes!’

The Museum is partnering with Cataldo Ambulance Service – who will administer the Pfizer BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine – and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for new vaccination clinics for anyone age five and older, with booster and adult vaccines also available.

Museum President, Tim Ritchie said setting up the clinic at the museum was as much about strategy as it was about empowerment.

“We are celebrating the true act of heroism kids are taking when getting a vaccine — with live demonstrations, fun activities, and other surprises. We encourage kids and families to wear superhero costumes.” he said.

Project vaccine

Registered guests receiving a vaccine will also be given two hours free parking and two free tickets to the Museum, where they can also explore the science behind vaccines in the museum’s new interactive exhibition Project Vaccine: Our Best Defense.

The exhibition includes Take a Stand, a full-body activity, where visitors position themselves along a continuum indicating how strongly they agree or disagree when asked a question about vaccines. They then hear how others have answered the questions and are asked whether they have changed their minds.

In another exhibit Stop the Spread, visitors use a computer model to explore how viruses can spread through a community based on variables such as a virus’s contagion rate, mortality rate, and a community’s vaccination rate.

Public service engagement

Throughout the pandemic, the Museum of Science has partnered with industry, academia, government and the public to serve the community as a platform for public science engagement.

This began at the Town Hall on 8 March 2020 where staff were on hand to address questions about an emerging pandemic and has grown to include a suite of resources under our Project Vaccine initiative.

These include public programmes centred on the needs identified by the local community, online resources for the public about vaccine development as well as other resources that they are continually creating in response to the COVID pandemic, and the development of the vaccines that are helping us combat the disease.

The museum is also requiring that all visitors two years of age and older wear a face covering/mask to contain the virus.