COVID vaccines rolling out for children ages 6 months to 5-years-old

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - The FDA and CDC have given the green light for COVID vaccinations targeting children between the ages of 6 months and 5-years-old.

As the shots begin to roll out into the nation this week, parents are battling mixed feelings about them.

Taryn Bush is the father of a 4-year-old boy, and the idea of getting him a COVID vaccine at such a young age is troubling.

“The new vaccine, I’m conflicted on because the people that have gotten the vaccine are still catching COVID,” says Bush, “so I’m thinking, what’s the point of it?”

Dr. David Schultz owns Evansville Primary Care, and he says he understands where some of the concern comes from for parents.

However, he says there’s a reason why the vaccine is important for children, too.

“Many parents wonder, why do my children need the vaccine when they’re very young?” says Schultz, “and the answer is because several of the children who are young will often carry the virus in their nasal passages, where they can easily spread it to other individuals.”

Dr. Schultz also noted that if kids are being taken care of by, or spending a lot of time with older people, such as their grandparents, they can be at risk of spreading it to them, putting that age group at risk.

For Bush, the issue isn’t so much vaccines as a whole, but making sure that whatever he’s allowing to be put into his son’s body is something that he is fully confident in.

“As soon as they perfect it, and get it to where the people that actually take it are not still catching it, yes, I will be in favor of it, but until then, no,” says Bush.

Dr. Schultz says he sees it as the next step toward, as he says, “hopefully getting the Coronavirus out of our hair for good.”

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