BUFFALO (WBEN) - New York residents aged 16 years and older can begin scheduling appointments and getting vaccinated starting Tuesday - just one week after eligibility expanded to those 30-plus.
Teens aged 16 and 17 will be limited to receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, since that is the only one that has been authorized for use by people under 18. Parental consent will be required for vaccinations of 16- and 17-year-olds, with certain exceptions including for teens who are married or are parents.
None of the available vaccines have yet been approved for people under 16.
Dr. Stephen Turkovich serves as chief medical officer at Oishei Children's Hospital, and he's excited that younger people will now have the opportunity to be vaccinated.
"Just as it's important for adults to get vaccinated, it's also important for our 16, 17, and 18 year olds to get vaccinated," said Turkovich. "We're starting to see an increase in the number of young people who are contracting COVID here in Western New York and across the country, so this is a race against time as the variants start to increase, we really need to get to that herd immunity as quickly as possible."
However, some parents are not ready to get their kids vaccinated, as many of these parents don't trust that the vaccine has been properly vetted, especially for their children.
"I hesitate myself, as a parent, to get my kids vaccinated - I do not trust it," said Buffalo parent Maribel Irizarry. "What are the long-term effects to our children?
"I've had conversations with friends, family, community members, saying the same thing that I'm saying right here, right now," she continued. "They don't trust it; they're scared."
Despite the fear from some, Turkovich is urging people to get vaccinated when they're eligible to do so, and this includes children.
"We know that the side effects from a vaccine and any potential long-term consequences are generally seen within the first six months of a vaccine being given," said Turkovich. "This vaccine has been studied for more than that, and we have not seen any significant long-term side effects."
Turkovich went on to say that he "certainly" will be getting his kids vaccinated as soon as they become eligible.
But this brings up an intriguing question: what if a child under the age of 18 wants the vaccine, but the parents of the child refuse to let them receive it?
"From a vaccine perspective, (that question) can be a little bit difficult, and right now, I do believe parents need to give consent," said Turkovich. "However, there may be situations where the teenager can get it without their consent, but that, I think, is not well defined."
Regardless, Turkovich said there needs to be communication and education within the community, and he believes factual information will quell a lot of the distrust in the vaccine.
"I think the more we can talk about this and focus on those facts, the less that fear will be out there," said Turkovich.
About one in five New York state residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A little more than one-third of the state's residents had received at least one vaccine dose.
The new vaccination rules add 1.7 million people to the list of eligible New Yorkers, for a total of 15.9 million individuals, state Health Department officials said.
