CHICAGO (CBS) — There is currently no COVID-19 vaccine option for children under 12, so as life shifts almost back to normal for a lot of people, many families with young children are not feeling that relief.

Vaccinated or not, for anyone who plans to be around unvaccinated children, life should remain like in a pandemic.

Stacey True has a 10-year-old and 11-year-old daughter.

“With my kids, this is our time. Summertime is when our family comes alive,” she said.

That means traveling — but not like normal.

“When we go places, we’re restricted to our Airbnb. We’re not a lot in the public,” she said.

The family plans to keep pandemic precautions even as Chicago and Illinois reopen without capacity limits. True has made the choice not to get vaccinated, and her children are not eligible yet.

“I want them to stay masked up. I stay masked up myself when I’m out in the open,” True said.

That’s exactly the advice Cr. Whitney Lynn wants others to know.

“We are doing this for our children.”

Lynn is a Family Physician with Cook County Health. She still sees children 11 and younger who cannot get the vaccine contracting COVID.

“And we could have prevented that number one, by making sure their family was vaccinated, but two – masking properly.”

Lynn says vaccinated or not, highly crowded spaces mean the risk of bringing the virus back home to kids.

“I would say the riskiest places are bars, clubs and concerts,” she said.

The safest places remain spacious, outdoor areas. And even in those cases, masks are still encouraged. The Chicago Day Camp Program is requiring masking and social distancing for campers.

But even as parents try to live a freer, maskless lifestyle, it comes down to leading by example, including the doctor who has a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old.

“When we go out and do things, because they have to still be masked, I still mask myself because I have to support them,” she said.

And the doctor says even though kids might not get as sick with COVID,  complications from it are possible.

Pfizer expects to ask the FDA for approval as soon as September for a vaccine for children ages five to 11.

Read More

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: