The Pennsylvania Department of Health is calling on COVID-19 vaccine providers to begin vaccinating residents ages 12 and older, and the vaccine is currently available in Butler County.

The recommendation came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the Pfizer vaccine for youths between 12 and 15 years old.

In addition, the CDC said that the Pfizer vaccine could be co-administered with other routine vaccinations.

People can find Pfizer vaccination locations using Vaccines.gov, also known as Vaccine Finder. They also can text their ZIP code to GETVAX (438829) for English, or VACUNA (822862) for Spanish and receive three possible vaccination sites in their area, then choose locations based on availability of the Pfizer vaccine.

Butler Health System is accepting appointments and walk-ins at its vaccine clinics at the Clearview Mall and Clarion Hospital. Appointments can be made at www.butlerhealthsystem.org.

The eligibility of 12- to 15-year-olds does not change the department's criteria for at least 70% of Pennsylvania adults to get fully vaccinated for the state's mask mandate to be lifted. According to the CDC, 46.2% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

As of Thursday, 4,043,255 people in the state are fully vaccinated and 1,700,696 people are partially vaccinated. A total of 9,381,098 doses have been administered, including 5,743,951 first and single doses and 3,708,413 second doses.

In the county, 73,601 people are fully vaccinated and 15,562 people are partially vaccinated.

The health department also reported 15 new cases in the county, raising the total number of cases to 10,941, and 2,028 new cases statewide, raising the total to 1,181,279. About 28,180 of the cases in the state are among health care workers.

One new death was reported in the county, bringing the total to 412, and 38 new deaths statewide bring the total to 26,697.

There are 1,712 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including 397 in intensive care. The 14-day average number of people hospitalized per day is decreasing.

In licensed nursing and personal care homes, 71,345 residents and 15,041 employees have COVID-19. Of the deaths in the state, 13,200 have occurred in residents of nursing or personal care facilities.