By Tim Mastro

DOVER — CVS Health announced COVID-19 vaccine appointments for adolescents ages 12 to 15 are now available for scheduling at more than 5,600 pharmacy locations nationwide, including eight across Delaware.

Starting today, participating CVS Pharmacy locations in Delaware will begin administering the Pfizer vaccine to this newly eligible population. Parental or legal guardian consent is required, and children must be accompanied by an adult.

Patients are encouraged to schedule an appointment online at cvs.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app to ensure availability. Walk-ins are also accepted. The CVS scheduling tool will only display appointments at CVS Pharmacy locations that have the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine once the patient’s age is provided.

When confirming eligibility in the scheduler, it’s made clear that minors “must have the consent of a parent or guardian to receive the vaccine.” The parent or guardian booking the appointment for a minor must “attest that they have the authority” to provide such consent and affirm that they have “answered these questions truthfully.” While there is no documentation required in-store, patients under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

To date, CVS Health has administered more than 17 million COVID-19 vaccines in the long-term care and retail setting and will be offering vaccinations at more than 9,600 CVS Pharmacy locations across 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. as of this upcoming Sunday, including 20 in Delaware.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally adopted a recommendation from a panel of its independent advisers to use the Pfizer vaccine in adolescents age 12 to 15 as of Wednesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine in the same age group on Monday.