Oakland County begins administering first COVID vaccine doses to children ages 5 to 11

Pediatricians stress importance of getting kids vaccinated

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Officials in Oakland County began vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 years old against coronavirus on Thursday (Nov. 4).

Local 4 cameras were there as the first round of children in Oakland County received the vaccine. Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter made a plea to parents in Oakland County.

“I’m putting out a personal plea to the parents to get your kids vaccinated. It will keep your families safe, your children safe, your communities, your school, our entire county and state,” Coulter said.

He had a team of pediatricians echoing the importance of children getting vaccinated against COVID.

“I work in the emergency department of Children’s Hospital of Michigan and we have seen an uptick of children come in with COVID-19. A lot of them are able to go home, but some of them are not,” Pediatrician and Chief of Staff at DMC, Dr. Tonya Touchstone, said.

The vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective.

“People are afraid and they’re concerned. I’m going to ask families and parents to be afraid of this disease, of the acute, short-term effects and the long-term effects that we don’t know about,” Dr. Silvia Operti, pediatrician at Kidz 1st Pediatrics Rochester Hills, said.


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About the Authors:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.