On the north side of the Capitol Building lies a pretty unique location for a vaccination clinic.
For today only, the Madison Children’s Museum is hosting a vaccination site until from 1:00 to 7:00 pm. Families can go to the large building on Hamilton Street and get any of the three doses of the vaccine for free. This includes children ages 5 to 11, who have recently been approved for vaccination by the FDA and CDC.
The energy in the building was high as dozens of Madison families and citizens looked around and played in the facility while they waited for their shots.
Jonathan Zarov, the Children’s Museum Director of Marketing and Communications, says the building is an ideal spot for families to receive something as solemn, and sometimes daunting, as a vaccine.
“Kids have an incentive to come in and get vaccinated — which of course they might feel a little nervous about or resistant to do — because they get to play here. The whole second floor is open for them. So, they come in and get vaccinated, then they can stick around and play,” he says.
Anyone can sign up online or walk-in to receive a vaccination. After filing some paperwork and checking in with the front desks, people are led upstairs to the waiting area, which also happens to be a massive floor of crafts, toys, and other fun activities. Once your name is called, you walk into the clinic room, receive your vaccine, and then wait and play for 10 to 15 minutes afterward before you can leave.
Zarov says the building is perfect for larger-sized families to have appointments.
“It makes it easier for parents with a couple of kids to come in here, and one kid can be playing while the other gets vaccinated, which is a lot harder in other locations. Then just the more you do it, and the more places and the more access there is, the more people get vaccinated,” states Zarov.
He mentions that even ten or more of the building’s staff members got vaccinated within the museum.
It was the Children’s Museum’s second time hosting a vaccination clinic. Their first was in November, when roughly This will be the building’s second time hosting a vaccination site, as a similar event was held on Monday, November 22nd. Roughly 62 children got their vaccine at that event.
I had an opportunity to speak with some visitors at the museum today, all of whom had only positive things to say about the location and the overall process.
