BEAVERTON, Ore. — For parents in Oregon, the wait is finally over to get their youngest kids vaccinated against COVID-19. Many Oregon hospitals and clinics started administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines this week to kids as young as 6 months old.
On Thursday afternoon, parents and kids lined-up at the Tektronix building in Beaverton for their turn. The Oregon Health Authority began hosting vaccine clinics like this one, geared toward children, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use authorization to the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 6 months to 5 years old last week.
For parents Ashley Crow and Joseph Shammas, this was a long-awaited decision. They brought their 11-month-old baby to get vaccinated at the Tektronix clinic.
"He is in daycare, he's surrounded by babies, they've had a couple of positive COVID cases," said Crow, "and you're stuck worrying, 'Is my baby going to get sick?'"
"We're excited to get our only bundle of joy protected," added Shammas.
Parents at Thursday's clinic said the vaccination will allow them to rest a little easier
"We have a lot of unvaccinated family members that we haven't been able to see during the pandemic because he's not protected," said Crow. "Finally we feel like we can get him out in the world again."
If you need to get your child vaccinated against COVID-19, you can use the state's vaccine finder tool to book an appointment, or check with your child's doctor.