To a doctor speaking at a vaccine clinic in Hartford, the ability to immunize 12-to-15 year olds against COVID-19 is an amazing scientific achievement.
"if you had talked to me a year ago that we'd be standing here talking about vaccinating kids at this point, I would have been ecstatic," says Dr. James Cardon, Chief Clinical Integration Officer at Hartford Healthcare.
To the kids, it's about something much simpler: getting back to the activities they've missed out on over the past year.
"Kids are really looking forward to getting the vaccine," says Sadie Sindland, 14, of West Hartford. "I'm in ninth grade, everyone that I've talked to, they were super-excited when they found out that they were eligible to get it so they can start returning to normal life."
Sara Omar, 13, of Simsbury, has this advice for her peers: "Take it, so we can all just move on from COVID."
Sadie and Sara got their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday at the Connecticut Convention Center, as 12-to-15 year olds became eligible.
Doctors at the event vouched for the vaccine's safety.
"This is a vaccine that has been administered now in the U.S. to close to 250 million people," says Harford Healthcare Physician-in-Chief Dr. James Salazar. "That's a lot of information. We would know if it was a problem."
Hartford Healthcare and Connecticut Children's are collaborating on a series of Care Alliance clinics.
