Utah family looking forward to kids getting COVID-19 vaccine
Oct 20, 2021, 7:36 PM | Updated: 7:41 pm
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — The United States is preparing to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 pending FDA approval, possibly in the next week. For some Utah families, this is the long-awaited news they’ve hoped for.
Many Utah families are still hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine. Other families want everybody in the house vaccinated as soon as it is safe and effective. That’s where the Keddingtons stand.
“From the get-go, I have been extremely eager to get vaccinated,” said Angela Keddington, who is a nurse.
We first met her family in May when they were trying to get their boys, ages six and 10, enrolled in the Pfizer Kids trial. They were not selected. But, the adults participated in vaccine trials nearly a year ago.
“That was one of the happiest days when my family, the older people in my family, could be vaccinated,” Keddington said.
Ten months later, they’re still waiting to get the boys vaccinated.
“I’ll be just as excited on the day they can finally get vaccinated. So, I’ve been extremely eager this whole time,” the mother said. “Honestly, I can’t believe that we were able to get a vaccine so quickly. It really was a miracle that we should take advantage of to end this pandemic.”
The boys are still home-schooling this year to avoid the ongoing spread of Covid-19. Keddington was even looking into pre-registering them for their shot in a neighboring county to get it done sooner once the vaccine is approved.
“Whatever it takes to get them vaccinated. With us heading into the holiday season, I think all parents should try to get their kids vaccinated as quickly as possible,” she said.
They’ve already canceled a family trip to Hawaii twice because they can’t get everybody vaccinated. They are hoping to finally get the whole family on board in January.
“I want my boys vaccinated before that, or I feel like we may have some tough decisions to make again,” the mother said.
As long as there are still unvaccinated people living in the house, like her boys, she believes it’s still too risky to go back to normal behavior.
