Kids 12 and older can schedule a COVID vaccine appointment through Nicklaus Children

Kids as young as 12 can now pre-register for a COVID-19 vaccination appointment through Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.

The South Miami-area hospital is ready to start offering vaccinations now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending using Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine in kids ages 12 to 15. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s recommendation comes hours after a CDC advisory committee endorsed the change on Wednesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the vaccine for emergency use in that age group Monday, saying it was safe and effective. Previously, Pfizer’s vaccine could only be given to people 16 and older.

Nicklaus says families can pre-register for an appointment through its online portal at nicklauschildrens.org/covid-19-vaccines. Anyone older than 21 who is still in the care of a pediatrician or a pediatric specialist can also request an appointment but will need to submit a signed consent form from their pediatrician.

For kids under 18, their parent or legal guardian must live or work in Florida and will need to be at the vaccination site with them. Young adults 18 and older who schedule an appointment will also need to live or work in Florida. Anyone who gets inoculated will need to show proof of age with a driver’s license, birth certificate or current passport.

Once you request an appointment, it will take about 72 hours for you to receive a confirmation email or text message, according to the hospital. Vaccination appointments are usually scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Vaccinations will be done in the research building on the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital campus, 3100 SW 62nd Ave., near Coral Gables.

Jackson Health System — Miami-Dade County’s public hospital network — is also planning to vaccinate kids 12 and up. And more than 1,000 kids ages 12 to 15 are set to get their first Pfizer dose Saturday at a South Miami pop-up.

This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 4:46 PM.

Michelle Marchante

Miami Herald

305-376-2708

Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.  Support my work with a digital subscription