27 Comments
User's avatar
Andy Kopsa's avatar

I personally cannot imagine parenting a kid through this time. My daughter is an adult. We excitedly shared pics of our first and then second shots (Moderna for her, Pfizer for me).

Expand full comment
Maureen Gummert's avatar

We initially said no for our compromised daughter. She has a rare genetic metabolic disorder and we had fears same as we did of Covid. We all had Covid ( dont want to do that again.)Yes we will vaccinate when approved, the main reason; people are unwilling to step up in her defense and get the vaccine themselves. We will have her get the jab on a Friday and deal with possible reaction over the weekend….just as with any vaccine we will give her Prophylactic Acetaminophen and just do it.

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

This is the part that bothers me so much: people unwilling to step up in defense of our most at risk/disabled -- aka disposable -- kids, parents, selves...it is especially galling in Iowa where this is so clearly tied to political maneuvering and straight up lies. I gotta get my booster - mom got hers.

Expand full comment
Yvonne Caruthers's avatar

Yeah, I LOVE not having gotten polio (which was your intro question on Twitter) because my hard-core parents forced me to get the vax when it finally became available. All kidding aside, I remember folks lined up around the block to get that vax. It’s still inconceivable to me that vast swaths of the country refuse to protect themselves and others from Covid, which seems to be an equally vicious virus.

My parents lived through the darkest days of the Depression, and before antibiotics were readily available. My dad thinks today’s nonsense is mostly due to younger generations never having seen people die from infections, or “simple” diseases like measles or whooping cough. He may be right….

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

Right? When my dad was a kid (Iowa, farm) his older brother - my Uncle Francis - was thought to have polio. For about a year he wasn't able to walk. My dad (a little kid himself) dragged Uncle Francis around the farm in a little wagon. We cannot be sure what he had (he recovered and was ultimately given dx of transverse myelitis - which is a catch all for idiopathic spinal event which I would get years later on my way to an MS dx) but that it was awful.

Expand full comment
Yvonne Caruthers's avatar

When I was 5 I suddenly had high fever and couldn’t walk. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks, all kinds of tests, polio was ruled out. Much later in life, my doctor guessed I might have had Guillain–Barré syndrome, which also causes temporary paralysis. It came back milder when I was 7 and my pediatrician said “her tonsils are really inflamed, let’s take them out.” (a very common surgery for kids in those days). Out they came, I’ve hardly been sick since then. Weird, right? But NOT polio, which was a bigger fear for all concerned.

Expand full comment
Maureen Gummert's avatar

This is super interesting. My mother also pulled her older sister in a wagon in the 30’s also due to a mysterious ailment which made her unable to walk. She overcame and is still with us at 92. Her eventual diagnosis was osteomyelitis….

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

oooohhh? Fascinating. Now dad and Francis would have been mid 1940s then - wonder if because it cleared up they were given myelitis diagnosis?

Expand full comment
Maureen Gummert's avatar

Wilma born in 29’ my mom in 30’ they were grade schoolers.

Expand full comment
Sara Anne Willette's avatar

Our son is the most outgoing social butterfly. He needs to play with kids and learn in a social atmosphere. The best and safest way he can do that is in a classroom of fully-vaccinated kids.

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

Science is awesome, isn't it?

Expand full comment
Karin Ulery's avatar

Already Talked to the five year olds doctor and as soon as the CDC gives the go ahead she’s getting a shot. Then everybody in my family except my three-year-old will be vaccinated. Yippee!

Expand full comment
Liz's avatar

I want my 9 year old son with asthma vaccinated for his safety! He is SO ready to get back to in-person school and wrestling. We also believe in science and believe in doing our part to help others who can’t get vaccinated be more protected too! We have been counting down the days and can’t wait to finally get the shot for him! There will definitely be tears of joy involved!

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

Aw - this is great! In person learning is really critical for kids - and for parent sanity! And I know in Iowa there are no good options for kids who are at high risk/regular risk to learn from home - which makes this all doubly hard. My husband and I felt so relieved and yes near crying - when we got our shots. After going through the intense in your face every day nightmare of early days COVID 19 in Manhattan (so much death, so much sickness, it was overwhelming, traumatic) we were just like: finally. Hope.

Expand full comment
Jill's avatar

I want my kids to be vaccinated because I have sat literally hundreds of hours in the hospitals with them. Watching ventilators, breathing tubes, horrible eye exams that made their breathing unstable again….

Subsequent hospitalizations as they grew up due to RSV and coronavirus pre-pandemic leaves a person desperate for medicine. The NICU and PICU’s have saved their lives more than once and it is complete madness that we have rejected medicine. I dread every virus and have spent thousands of dollars to prevent RSV through pediatrician recommendations.

We used to run in the side door at the clinic in 2016 to avoid sickness. Now? Their lives don’t matter much because of propaganda and the “great Barrington declaration.”

Synagis saved their lives early. These vaccinations are another layer of protection that will likely do the same. This is what is means to be pro-life (I think.)

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

This is the same feeling a dear friend - her son survived an extremely harrowing kidney transplant at aged 2 - expressed to me about being able to get her entire brood vaccinated. It is about 8 years since his transplant - and they need everyone in their community to be healthy.

Expand full comment
Jill's avatar

Incapacitating dread every single day we go without it. I’m so sorry for your friend. We are doing little to nothing now in our area and people don’t seem to grasp the airborne part of the virus. Quite literally, nothing has changed from the precautions we were taught so long ago in the hospital to now. The only thing that seems consistent and predictable IS covid. People, however, are not.

Expand full comment
Lindsey Nichole's avatar

My kiddo and I have watched the news of vaccines as soon as they came, watched the first vaccines being administered in England, and the first ones here.

They’ve worn masks every day through daycare, through school, even when no other kids were last summer.

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the vaccine for months, and I’m so relieved that we were able to keep our kiddo safe up to this moment. Being able to get them vaccinated will remove a huge worry for us as parents, and for my kid.

Lindsey Ellickson

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

Thank you! -- I cannot imagine parenting a school aged kid through this time. My daughter is an adult and we did excitedly share pics of our vaccination cards and "I got vaccinated" stickers!

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

I want to thank everyone for participating! I am working on a post to bring to light the voices - like all of yours - who are ready to have their kids vaccinated against COVID19. The din of the news cycle enjoys click-bait and that is too often the loud and frankly ignorant voices of a minority of people who are anti-vax for purely political reasons. As a woman who is immunocompromised - I understand that some of us cannot (under the direction of our doctors) get a vaccination. I am lucky and was absolutely able to get it. But loud, angry jerks are sucking all the air out of the room. And in the case of Iowa - a complicit Reynolds administration who actually embraces Qanon moms at photo ops - those angry voices drown out the rest.

Expand full comment
Jennifer Allen's avatar

I'm a scientist, and have followed the vaccine development closely. I've seen the data, I've listened to the experts. I know that vaccination reduces our chances of serious illness to near zero, and I can't imagine denying that for my children.

In addition to the 'selfish' reasons, I also want to be part of the solution. I want to do everything in my power to end the pandemic, and vaccination is vital to that goal.

I cried with joy and relief when I got my vaccine, and I can't wait to feel that same relief for my children. My 7 and 4 year olds will be getting vaccinated as soon as possible.

Expand full comment
Anthony Fischer's avatar

I want my kids to get the vaccines to decrease their risk of COVID and MIS-C. I want them to be able to play indoor sports, go to restaurants, family gatherings, and school events like they did before. I think that when enough of the population, including children get vaccinated, life will be much more normal.

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

I am glad you mention MIS-C. I don't know if there is enough communication to families about the risks associated with COVID19 especially to kids via MIS-C. I know of one case in a nearby town (from where I went to highschool) a teenager had a stroke as a result of COVID19 -- asymptomatic and seemingly fine. COVID is a systemic disease and I hope we keep talking about those real risks! Thank you

Expand full comment
Lucy's avatar

We're excited because our lives have been turned upside down by this pandemic for so long, and getting us all vaccinated is one step closer to going back to the old sense of pre-pandemic normal. I feel like I'll be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that have that layer of protection with them.

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

Thank you -- I agree. The pandemic isn't over and it continues to impact families who deal with the concerns over school, ability for kids to participate fully in activities, etc. Even if we are lucky to not lose a family member or friend, the impact of this ongoing pandemic is causing a kind of protracted trauma for so many of us.

Expand full comment
Alia Renee's avatar

I would never give my itty bitty 5 year old a vaccine she has no risk for any harm or death from the virus that the vaccine won’t help her stop getting or spreading it. Not without years of long term side effects. We have multiple autoimmune issues and since my second shot I have been in excruciating pain since and I won’t risk my daughter starting her pain journey at only 5 years old. The chance of that is absolutely not acceptable for a virus she has a 99.9996% of surviving. Sorry.

Expand full comment
Andy Kopsa's avatar

That is terrible. I am sorry that is happening to you! However, this thread is for people who are excited to be able to have this potentially life-saving option for their children. Here's hoping you feel better soon.

Expand full comment