'We have to protect them': Some determined to get kids under 5 vaccinated, others remain hesitant

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The city is days away from rolling out its COVID vaccination plan for younger children 6 months to 4 years old.

While some hope to be among the first in line, others still are thinking over their plans.

Tens of thousands of additional COVID-19 vaccines are being prepped to send out to different sites across the city.

"There are 18 million kids in the United States awaiting this vaccine," said Dr. Juanita Mora.

Health officials said shot will be available at pediatricians' officers, select children's hospitals and city colleges.

"Now, we have something to protect these kids," Mora said

The Chicago Department of Public Health urged parents who plan to vaccinate their younger kids to start making plans now.

"We've lost 500 kids in this age group in the United States secondary to the pandemic. We don't want to lose one child more," Mora said.

Zachary and Julieanne Laurente, both health care professionals and parents of two young children, said they plan to sign their kids up right away.

"Personally, I kind of want it to be for the kids just to have that extra layer of protection," Zachary said.

As soon as the CDC gave its green light, it was a sigh of relief for Luis Trujillo.

"We have to protect them. I think that it's something good for them," Trujillo said. "I'm not going to think twice, so absolutely whenever that's ready, I'm going to do it."

CDPH said parents who plan to get their younger children vaccinated will have a choice between Pfizer or Moderna. There are differences between the two in terms of doses and timing between vaccines.

If parents choose Pfizer, children 6 months to 4 years old will get a tenth of an adult dose in a series of three shots. There are three weeks between the first two and the third shot is two months later.

If parents choose Moderna, children 6 months to 5 years old will get a fourth of an adult dose in a series of two shots with four weeks between doses.

"We're just doing our parts to make sure that you know doing what we can get them vaccinated," Zachary said.

Sunday night, other parents, said they still are talking over their plans.

"I was happy to see that they were making progress with the vaccination," said Victor Escobedo.

Victor and his wife, both vaccinated, said thankfully, their daughter has not contracted the virus as a result of preventative measure, but for now, they still want to discuss their options.

"We're just kind of laying it off and see what happens," he said. "Just happy to see that, you know, seems like these are kind of getting back to normal here in Chicago."

The city's top doctor as well as other health care professionals urged families to use this opportunity to vaccine their young ones and to make sure everyone in the family is up-to-date.