Bay Area pediatricians, parents gear up for COVID vaccination for kids 5 and younger
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- On Wednesday, an FDA panel has taken the first step in approving shots for kids aged between six months and five years old.
At Golden Gate Pediatric in Mill Valley, doctor Eileen Aicardi says it's an important milestone.
"We are busier in our office than we have ever been in my 44 years of being here," Aicardi said.
Dr. Aicardi is encouraging all parents to get their kids vaccinated.
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She tells ABC7 News the assumption that younger people don't always get as sick with the virus is untrue.
"The children are extremely sick. They are running fevers for three, four, five days.104, 105," said Aicardi.
It's something Sejal Iyer worries about with her 23-month-old daughter.
"She's about to start preschool. So the amount of exposure she'll have to other kids and just the possibility for her to get it if she's unvaccinated is that much higher," Iyer said.
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Iyer says although both she and her husband have been vaccinated for some time, they've still had to make changes to their lives in order to protect their daughter.
"We are kind of living like a hybrid life. Because it's slowly returning back to normal for myself and my husband but because we have a young kid at home, we have to be that much more careful," she said.
A reality, Iyer says, she's looking forward to soon putting behind her.
"We really think that she's missed out on some opportunities that we would have otherwise had. So we're certainly looking forward to being able to take her to a museum and not feel scared about being around a ton of people," said Iyer.
VACCINE TRACKER: How California is doing, when you can get a coronavirus vaccine
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