This story appeared in WNEM. Read more here.
Two mid-Michigan county health departments held the first of many vaccination clinics for school aged children.
Mid-Michigan health departments are giving out the first coronavirus vaccines to children five to 11, just days after Pfizer’s vaccine got the green-light for this age group.
“Exciting, kind of teary eyed too,” said a woman named Julie, when asked how it felt to get her ten and seven-year-olds vaccinated for COVID-19 on Nov. 5. “This opens up a whole new world of opportunity for them to get back out in their community.
Julie joined many others at the DOW Event Center; people like Shaena Faubert, who lost her dad to COVID in January.
That’s part of the reason she brought her kids there to get the shot.
“So it’s really important to me to get our family, our friends, our community safe,” Faubert said.
She thought the experience for her children was a smooth one.
“The staff was so great and did a really good job with the kids,” she said.
The same goes for Sue Brown, said her grandkids were excited to join the fight against COVID-19
Other kids said they’re relived that their wait to get the vaccine is over.
“I’ve been worrying about getting COVID for a long time now and I’m glad I got the vaccine because I won’t get it,” said one child.
“I feel very good because now I know that if I hug somebody I know I can trust them,” said another.
“We want the virus to be gone, that’s just simple, and also so we can go back to living a normal life,” said another.
“You should get the shot because you don’t know who has COVID,” said another.
Saginaw County Health Department officer Christina Harrington said the turnout was better than expected.
She looks forward to offering more shots in arms of people of all ages.
“We’ll have more clinics planned for our community,” Harrington said. “Different dates, times, locations as we always do to make sure that we can be as accessible as possible for all of our families.
Getting back to Julie, she said these kids are setting examples for others to follow.
“Get your shot, people,” she said. “Do your part.”