TULSA, Okla. — One Tulsa family is hoping to get their two kids vaccinated, but they aren’t old enough yet. So, they found a vaccine trial for their 11-year-old daughter.
While those 12 and older can get the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are still only recommended for those 18 and older.
So, 11-year-old Evelyn Saylor is helping researchers find out the effects of Moderna on kids.
“I wanna like, get out of the pandemic," Evelyn said.
Evelyn received her first Moderna vaccine shot last week. She’s part of a trial at the Lynn Institute in Oklahoma City to study Moderna vaccine dosage on children.
“I was kind of nervous, but I was also like the pandemic is ending, you know?” Evelyn said.
Evelyn uses an app to track how she’s feeling, but other than a sore arm and headache the day after her first shot, she said she’s fine.
Her dad, Ryan, said they wanted her to have a chance to get the vaccine and felt it was safe after he and his wife got it themselves.
“From our understanding, the scientific evidence was strongly in favor of the safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine," Ryan said. "So we felt confident going into it.”
Evelyn’s looking forward to being fully vaccinated so she can have a summer full of activities like camp and hanging out with her friends.
“I wanna just have play dates with my friends," Evelyn said. "Up until people started the vaccine, I hadn’t seen anybody in like a year.”
For dad, he’s just happy to see his daughter have a chance to be a kid again.
“We felt like our kids, in a way, got forced to become little adults during the pandemic and have to worry about things kids shouldn’t have to worry about," he said. "And so, the return to normalcy is something that will make normal life something extraordinary and we’re looking forward to that.”
Evelyn is scheduled to get her second shot in a few weeks.
If you’re trying to decide whether to get your child vaccinated or not, Ryan suggests talking to your pediatrician to figure out the best course of action.
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