‘I feel safe’: Kids and parents share their reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine – Statesman Journal

Pediatricians' offices and clinicsare quicklyfillingwith kids lining up to get shots since the Oregon Health Authority gave the go-ahead Nov. 3 forchildren age5-12to receive their COVID-19 vaccines.

The reasons for getting the vaccinevary by family some live in multigenerational households, some families includemedical professionalsor teachers but many are motivated by the desire for life to return to as close to normal as possible and to help beat COVID-19.

"I feel safe," 7-year-old Mira Kraftof Eugene said. "I feel like part of the herd."

Nearly 2,200 kids ages 5-11 in Marion County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, along with about 650 kids in Polk County, according to data from the Oregon Health Authority. Thatrepresents 6.7% and 8.5% of kids ages 5-11in those counties, respectively.

Mira's mother, Katie Kraft, said her daughterwas prepared to get the vaccine a long time agoand got it Nov. 11. Her 4-year-old sonis now the lastin their family still waiting.

"They'vebeen very aware of it since the very beginning," Katie said. "With my parents, we have (multiple) generations in our house, and so there's a higher risk for them. They've already been vaccinated and that's been a conversation all the way along.Mirais super excited to get vaccinated so she can go out and see people."

Katie also has some increased risk because she'sa teacher at an elementary school in Springfield. Because of these concerns, Mira has been in distance or online learning for both kindergarten and this year of first grade.

"She doesn't like shots, but she was excited for this," Katie said, to which Mira exclaimed, "It didn't even hurt!"

Siblings Diego, 9, Gustavo, 6, and Rose Lopez, 5, all received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at Salem Healths Edgewater clinic on Friday, wearing matching smiley face surgical masks.

Diego said getting the vaccine would lead to less COVID and that he wasnt nervous about the appointment. If anything, he and his siblings had just accepted they were going to get the vaccine.

His mom said during the appointment that getting the vaccine would mean they would get less sick if they did end up getting the virus.

After getting the shot, Gustavo and Diego said it hurt less than they expected; "Not that bad," the younger brother said.

Rose started crying as the shot was administered and nodded when asked if she was nervous and if it hurt.

Did you know that if you smile it hurts a little bit less? Gustavo said to comfort her.

Protecting others was a big reason for another Eugene family, which includesAri Lester, 12, Nadav Lester, 10, and mother Rebecca Hart.

Ari got the first dose of Pfizer in June, and Nadav got his first dose on Nov. 11. They don't like shots, Hart said, but they had lots of conversations about it being animportant moment to get through.

"We talked about it as a family we talked about coping with shots, right? Not very fun, but we can handle it and we're tougher than COVID," Hart said.

"And the reason is to protect ourselves," Ari said.

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Ari said he wanted to get the shot right away, even though he's doesn't like them.

"For me, I wanted to get it for protection of myself and protect others around me, but also because Iwant to be done with the pandemic and get back to more regular," Ari said."Getting the vaccine stops the spread and stopping the spread makes it be more over."

Nadav also isn't a fan of shots, but said he was ready to get it, being the last family member waiting.

"I just had less protection than everybody even though my immune system is better because I'm young, but I just couldn't do as much stuff," he said.

They were excited thinking about how once their neighbors are vaccinated, they will all be able to play without their masks on, like they did at the beginning of the pandemic.

For Rebecca, who is a psychologist, it was an obvious choice to get her family vaccinated.

"I have a lot of friends whose kids have been out of school because of the quarantines and the exposure. My kids hada really hard last year with (distance learning)and they're so happy to be back in school," she said. "The more kids that are vaccinated, the more they can go back to a normal classroom and schoolsetting."

In Salem, the Brubaker family also jumped on the vaccines as soon as they could.

Cryssi Brubaker said her sons Noah, 13, and Wyatt, 12 were eager to get it as soon as possible, so much so that Wyatt scheduled his appointment for the day after his 12th birthday in September.

"I knew that it would just be that little extra peace of mind that will not necessarily prevent you from getting it, but ifI did get it, it wouldn't be so bad," Wyatt said."I'm young.I'm on the healthy side, but we didn't want know what (COVID-19) could do long term."

Wyatt, who is on the autism spectrum, is deathly afraid of needles, Cryssi said, but was ready.

"I wanted to be a little bit more safer, but also it would stop me from infecting other people," he said.

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So he petted their family's therapy dog, watched a video, squeezed his mom's hand tight and got through both doses.

"For the most part, I try to give them as much control, especially body autonomy, as I can," Cryssi said. "But they wanted to do it because they know that it's important, they know that it's the right thing to do. Plus, all of us are just done and over (the pandemic)."

Noah and Ari Lester said the advice they wouldgive to otherkids or adults who are on the fence about the vaccineis: "Just do it."

"Definitely go out and get it it is well worth it," Noah said."I think it's well past the time where we just get this thing just to be done with this whole pandemic, because at this point, it's just annoying and unnecessary."

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Wyatt agreed and asked people look at the positives of the vaccine and how it can protect them.

"Get that shot and whatever side effects you get, that's only momentary," Ari said. "This will protect you for much longer time than it's gonna hurt."

Statesman Journal reporter Connor Radnovich contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Jordyn Brown at jbrown@registerguard.com or 541-246-4264, and follow her on Twitter @thejordynbrown and Instagram @registerguard.

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'I feel safe': Kids and parents share their reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine - Statesman Journal