25 turn out for first BMH clinic to vaccinate younger kids
Butler Memorial Hospital saw more than two dozen appointments Saturday for its first clinic to vaccinate children between 6 months and 5 years old against COVID-19. Included among the parents bringing their children to be vaccinated were two of the hospital’s doctors.
Karen Gagen, Butler Health System’s vaccination coordinator, said 25 patients were scheduled for the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic for younger children, which was 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Saturday’s clinic was the hospital system’s first effort to vaccinate children between those ages, Gagen said, but will not be the last. Another first-dose clinic at BMH is scheduled July 30, and vaccines will be available at Clarion Hospital in the interim.
Gagen said Butler Health System is also working on getting the vaccines to pediatricians at a later date but added there is no estimated date for that yet.
Through BHS, according to Gagen, children will receive the Moderna mRNA-based vaccination, which received emergency approval for use in children between 6 months and 5 years old in mid-June.
Dr. John Love, BHS’ medical director of infectious disease, was one of the first people through the door to have his 18-month-old son, James McKenery-Love, vaccinated.
“He’s already had COVID, but we wanted to get this for him” to prevent severe future infection, Love said. Love called the process for scheduling an appointment “convenient and easy enough.”
Love added that when he heard vaccines would be available for the younger age group — the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine was approved for use in children older than 5 in October — he thought it was about time.
“We’ve been going down to age 5 for the Pfizer vaccine for about a year now, and this age group has just been waiting,” he said. “They’re too young to mask ... and so this is one of the few lines of defense that’s available to them.”
Collette Musati, of Butler, said she had a similar reason for having her 2-year-old daughter, Harlee, vaccinated against COVID.
“I just wanted us to be able to go back to normal,” Musati said. “I want her to be able to play with her friends and not wear a mask.”
Musati said Harlee’s pediatrician told her about the vaccination clinic.
Another BHS doctor, Dr. Kelli Ruby, was also one of the first to have an appointment. On Saturday, her son, Lennox, 3, received his first vaccine.
“He’s the only one who hadn’t been able to get vaccinated yet,” the psychiatrist said.
Last year, Ruby said, she chose to keep Lennox home from preschool, a choice which was vindicated by its attached day care frequently closing.
“He’ll be going to school this fall, and we feel better about it,” she said. “I feel better about going on vacations or other things that are opening up now that he’s finally vaccinated.”
Although the COVID-19 vaccines have undergone what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the “most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history,” Love said he acknowledges some parents may have concerns and encourages them to speak with their children’s pediatrician before making a decision as to whether or not to vaccinate.
“Understandably, I think, some parents are going to have a lot of questions about this,” Love said. “They may be comfortable getting the vaccine themselves, as adults, but may have questions for their pediatrician.”
Eagle photographer Joseph Ressler contributed to this report.
