Some parents rush to get young kids vaccinated as COVID shots become available in Massachusetts
NEEDHAM -- Temple Beth Shalom in Needham was one of the first places in Massachusetts to have COVID vaccines available for young children Tuesday. It's the first day the shots are being offered to kids ages 6 months to 5 years old after the vaccines received FDA emergency use authorization and were recommended by the CDC last weekend.
"Oh my God. I'm going to cry. I feel safe now. I'm so happy. I'm so grateful -- for the temple too, they've saved us," said Michelle Schatz, who had two children vaccinated Tuesday.
"We're so happy and excited to finally be able to provide them with the vaccine," said Susan Gilbert, who brought her toddler twins Max and Dora to the Needham clinic. "As parents of young children, we've really had to wait a little bit longer and also we had to be extra careful."
The clinic is working in partnership with Holtzman Medical Group. They had 300 appointments for Tuesday and all were filled in 30 minutes.
"I've been responding to a number of requests by email. I can't keep up but we are really trying to meet the demand," said Barb Epstein, COVID coordinator with Holtzman Medical Group.
Children will need all three doses of the Pfizer vaccine or two doses of Moderna in order to be considered fully vaccinated.
The Moderna dose is half as concentrated as an adult dose.
"When we heard about this clinic I said we need to get him vaccinated ASAP and we're going to go now. So it was always my decision that like once it became available we would get him vaccinated," said Lisa Holtzman, who got her child vaccinated on Tuesday.
"This is such an important day we were so excited to hear about it," said Jamie Rogers who brought her three-year-old son Matthew. "We've been waiting a very long time. Now we feel a bit safer," she said.
The clinic provided a rare scene in Massachusetts. Even though state officials promised appointments on its Vaxfinder website Tuesday, it didn't happen until late afternoon. "I logged in this morning before work, there was nothing updated. I figured maybe they're waiting for business hours, right? People have to come in and flip the switch. Checked at 9:00, nothing. Checked at 10:00, nothing," said Brian Benoit, a West Brookfield father looking for Moderna for his 19-month-old son.
Benoit was frustrated that state and federal politicians have been celebrating the milestone, while he struggled to find an appointment. "It's time to come off the victory lap, and let's figure out how to get these kids vaccinated," he said. He finally found an appointment but has to travel to Connecticut next week to get it.
There will be nearly 400 locations where children under 5 can get the vaccine in Massachusetts using the Vaxfinder website.
Parents can also call their pediatrician's office for an appointment to get the vaccine.
Moderna currently has plans to test a COVID vaccine on babies three months to six months old. Pfizer has no current finalized plans to do so.