'Nothing's Available Nearby,' Parents Of Young Children Frustrated By Lack Of Pediatric COVID Vaccine Appointments
NEEDHAM (CBS) - At the Needham Vaccine Center on Chestnut Street on Wednesday, kids as young as 5-years-old were already getting COVID-19 vaccine shots, a day after the CDC approved them.
Elsewhere, other parents hit roadblocks.
"Nothing's available nearby," said Natick mom Morgen Willis. She spent all morning trying to get a shot scheduled for her 5-year-old, Milo.
"I feel frustrated," she said. "I do wish that our local government and our federal government valued children because I think they've given up a lot, and I think it would've been the least we could do to have everything ready to go."
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services sent a statement saying, "Hundreds of additional sites will be coming online beginning tomorrow and the administration will be updating Mass.Gov and the VaxFinder tool as more providers get up and running."
Read: CVS, Walgreens To Start Providing Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids 5-11 This Weekend
"There it is," said Dr. Robyn Riseberg, founder of Boston Community Pediatrics, as she pulled out a vial of the pediatric Pfizer dose. It's color-coded orange.
"We're ready. We're excited to vaccinate this age group, and we're going to do whatever we can, whether it's staying late or being open on the weekends, to help get people vaccinated," she said.
Wednesday, she spoke with patients and parents about it. Boston mom Jazlin Diaz said she hopes to bring her young kids in. "Because both parents are vaccinated, and if all of the household could be vaccinated, I'll feel comfortable and safe."
WBZ-TV has a town-by-town interactive map which tracks the vaccination rates of school-age children in Massachusetts.