First group of school-age children get COVID-19 shot

Jennifer Holt leaned over to her 5-year-old son shortly after he joined the millions of Americans who made history in the greatest vaccination campaign of all time.

“Do you remember what we talked about? A shot is just like that, ”she told Robert, snapping her fingers. “But being sick takes a lot longer.”

He nodded, most of his face covered by a cloth mask printed with brightly colored dinosaurs.

Robert was among about two dozen children, ages 5-11, who received their Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 syringes at the Stemmons Immunization Clinic in Dallas on Wednesday morning – less than 24 hours after federal authorities cleared the age group for vaccination had freed.

For the Holt family, Robert’s protection means that they are closer to claiming their lives back.

Vaccination program director and registered nurse Barbara Davis gave Finn Good, 9, a Pfizer vaccine at Dallas County Health and Human Services on Wednesday. Good was among the first Dallas County children, ages 5-11, to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (Brandon Wade / special article)(Brandon Wade / special article)

Despite being vaccinated, Jennifer Holt and her husband are still concerned about their son and three-year-old daughter.

“They know very well what is going on from a young age and they feel the stress,” said Jennifer’s husband Robert Holt, adding that his daughter cried on Wednesday morning because she still hadn’t had an injection. “This brings us back to a more normal lifestyle, a pre-COVID lifestyle.”

Despite the brightly colored balloons adorning the clinic and many reassuring words, children shed a few tears when a nurse administered the syringes contained in vials with orange lids to distinguish them from adult jars with purple lids.

Her parents just smiled in relief.

Jodee Neil said she wanted her 6 and 5 year old daughters to follow in the footsteps of their grandmother, who was one of the first people in Mississippi to receive the polio vaccine when it became available.

6 year old Naomi Cronin got her shot first and then helped distract her younger sister Willa Cronin when she got hers.

When the two were finished, they sat together on chairs in the back of the room for a short but obligatory observation time and Naomi hugged Willa.

When asked why she got her vaccine on Wednesday, she said it was “to teach others to be brave”.

Willa nodded with a few more tears in her eyes and repeated: “To teach others to be brave.”

Neil sighed after the children adjusted to the 10 minute observation time.

“It’s a peace of mind that I didn’t have yesterday,” she said.

Matt Himelfarb was sitting with his daughter Bea, 6, when Barbara Davis administered the Pfizer vaccine at Dallas County Health and Human Services on Wednesday. Himelfarb was among the first children, ages 5-11, in Dallas County to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (Brandon Wade / special article)(Brandon Wade / special article)

Christina Salinas, a county case worker, has supported similar vaccination efforts during the pandemic. But she said Wednesday’s event, which mostly included families invited by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, was enlightening.

“Many of these younger children knew what it meant to the public, what it meant to them,” she said. “That was really enlightening today. A lot of those 5 year olds I saw, 6 year olds, said, “I really need to get it for my health and safety.” That was really neat. “

Amy Mentgen’s daughter, 11-year-old Emerson Mentgen, is the youngest of her five children and finally got her vaccine at the clinic on Wednesday. Emerson said she was jealous of her older siblings who had chances of getting shot in front of her.

“If we’re places where you don’t have to wear a mask, it’s mine to do so,” said Amy Mentgen. “There have been some trips and other things that we didn’t consider because she couldn’t be vaccinated.”

Mentgen said she was glad her family are all vaccinated now.

“[My high schooler] football players have been quarantined three or four times, “she said, adding that they never tested positive. “Then it eliminates any kind of social activity, and then it puts our whole family on high alert, and whatever they want to do, it’s just a trickle-down effect,” she said. “And the quarantine rules are obviously different when you’re vaccinated. She was the only one that we really had to worry about. “

The county has ordered 3,000 doses of the pediatric vaccine this week and will place another order when the supply runs out, a county spokesman said. Appointments at the health department can be made online.

The gunshots will be rampant in local pharmacies starting Monday, and vaccinations will be given at school nurses offices in Dallas ISD, Jenkins said.

Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Department of Health, encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated, although coronavirus cases have been decreasing recently.

“Hopefully everyone has learned these lessons from the past,” he said. “It is not over till it’s over. We must continue to keep watch and be vigilant. “

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