By Elizabeth Chuck -
NBC News
The morning after Pfizer's coronavirus vaccines were recommended for children ages 5 to 11, Karen Bucher woke up at dawn to secure an appointment for her 8-year-old daughter Margot, a very sociable little girl who has only ever had an indoor play date since the pandemic began.
When Bucher, from Chicago, asked for her turn, she
felt moved to tears as she realized the importance
of what was happening not only to Margot, but also to the rest of her family.
Bucher, his partner and their 13-year-old son have already been vaccinated.
While waiting for the time when Margot could receive the vaccine, the family lived almost as carefully as at the beginning of the pandemic.
Finn Washburn, 9, poses with his mother, Kate Elsley, in front of a photo of Dr. Anthony Fauci after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in San Jose, California on Wednesday. Noah Berger / AP
“We still had to protect her, so nothing changed.
The kids haven't been inside a restaurant or grocery store since February 2020, ”said Bucher, a medical illustrator for JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.
"
I know that vaccines protect a lot from hospitalization and death, but that does not mean that we cannot infect if we become infected
," he explained.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed Pfizer's vaccine for children in the 5 to 11 age group.
Many parents of young children say that this was like a wave of relief and hope about the future of their families.
A vaccine for children under 5 years of age has not yet been approved.
But among the 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the United States, there are many parents who finally see a way out of the pandemic.
[Why do children need the COVID-19 vaccine?]
Some are planning
a long-delayed family vacation
.
Others are anxious that the children can again run some worldly errands.
And others are excited to have back some of the activities that often mark childhood, and that disappeared with the pandemic: softball practices, gymnastics competitions, soccer games.
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"
It's a green light to start figuring out how we get back to a new normal,
" said Bucher, who booked an appointment Thursday for the first dose of Margot.
"I think people who don't have children went through that transition months ago," he said.
Chris Ware, a father of three boys ages 7, 9 and 11, will feel more relief every morning when he drops his kids off at elementary school.
The institution does not have a mandatory mask use mandate, so Ware, of Saginaw, Michigan, is constantly concerned about the health of her children.
"Kids are a little less likely to get to the point where they need to be in the hospital, but I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened," he said.
Your children will also receive their first doses this Thursday.
[No, COVID-19 vaccines for children are no more deadly than the virus]
"It will definitely be exciting for us," he said.
"I care about his well-being more than anything," he added.
"I had not realized how much stress I was under"
Some parents only felt the weight of how exhausting getting vaccinated before their children was when they were finally able to schedule doses for them.
"I hadn't realized how much stress I was under," said Krishna Mudumbi, a research scientist who lives in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and is the father of two sons, ages 7 and 8.
Her children received their first doses on Saturday.
For Mudumbi, it was
a step away from worrying
about whether they would be exposed to the coronavirus at school, whether he and his wife would have to change their work schedules to stay home with them if they were in quarantine, or about having to test for COVID-19 before going to visit grandparents, among other inconveniences that had become a regular part of family life.
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"There were a lot of things that became new concerns that we had in mind, and now we are seeing a bit of normalcy," Mudumbi said.
It's a response many parents likely have to the prospect of childhood vaccination, said psychologist Lynn Bufka, senior director of transformation and quality practices at the American Psychological Association.
“We want to raise our children to be healthy adults, and for almost two years,
many parents have felt that there is something bad and scary that can harm their children and that they cannot see, they do not know where it is
, and that they have very little ways to protect your children from it, ”he said
“And then, living with the consequences of the day to day - children don't hug their grandparents, children don't have sleepovers, children's schooling is interrupted - not all parents want to vaccinate their children, but those who They do, they have this feeling that
'there is something I can do about it,'
"he added.
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Mudumbi's children will be fully vaccinated in time for winter break and they look forward to visiting family.
They also plan to go to New York City, a place where children have always wanted to go on a trip.
A domino effect for the rest of the family
It is not just parents who will feel the ripple effect of their children receiving the dose against COVID-19.
In many homes, siblings will also benefit.
Amy Eklund, from North Alabama, is the mother of three children, two of whom were old enough to get vaccinated.
Last weekend, she brought her youngest son, Aaron, 10, to his first dose.
That will open the doors for Aaron's siblings
: His 13-year-old sister Hannah received the vaccine almost six months ago and wanted to participate in her school choir, but with Aaron still unvaccinated, Eklund was concerned that she would allow him. doing so could bring the virus into your home.
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“For me, it's pure excitement, happiness and relief and just 'yeah, we did it!'” Eklund said of giving Aaron his first injection.
The first dose went well, he said.
Aaron was nervous, but said it hurt less than the flu shot he got a month ago.
Just knowing that she will have an extra layer of protection very soon is a huge relief. "
Karen Bucher Mom of Margot, 8
"He's relieved," Eklund said.
"He's very excited to finally have done it and not have to worry about getting sick," he said.
For Bucher, who, as a medical illustrator, has been closely following COVI-19 research, having a fully vaccinated family means they are doing their part to keep their community safe.
It also means a return to the activities they loved before the pandemic, like dining out.
And 8-year-old Margot can go back to her play dates.
"Just knowing that she will have an extra layer of protection very soon is a huge relief," said Bucher.
"I think that's where both the tears and the emotion come from: it's pure relief," he added.
