Twins Milo and Rosemary “Rosie” Cui were more interested in a large fish tank than being recognized as some of the first toddlers in Pittsburgh to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. During a media event Thursday, the two-and-a-half-year-olds in bright orange and blue N95 masks hopped on their mom, Katie Gavinski’s, lap as nurse Melissa Hanlon handed them a sticker and seamlessly gave the kids their first shot of the Moderna vaccine.
“This is a miracle,” said Gavinski, who is a doctor herself and has been caring for COVID-19 patients since the pandemic started. “We’re very excited for them to get to experience more of a normal life.”
The twins and other children younger than five were authorized for the vaccine by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week. The Thursday clinic was at UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics (CCP) in Squirrel Hill. To prepare the kids for the shot, Gavinski said the family hyped up the whole experience to get the twins excited about the clinic visit. And it worked. The toddlers didn’t cry at all.
Gavinski said she’s encouraged other parents of young children to schedule their appointments and is excited for her kids to go in public without masks.
“It's kind of sad that they know that you need to wear a mask to go outside. So we're very excited for things to feel like pre-pandemic life,” Gavinski said.
One-year-old Theo Seebruck was next on the medical table, sitting on the lap of his mother, Anna Ahn. After nurse Hanlon gave him the shot quickly in his right leg, he flinched for a second, then looked back at his mother without any tears before trying to grab reporters’ microphones.
Dr. David Wolfson, medical director of Children’s Community Pediatrics, explains the dosage for little kids. He says parents have been very excited to get their children vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/Y6OjZ4gh40
— Katie Blackley (@kate_blackley) June 23, 2022
“It's been such a long pandemic, and I'm just so excited to get him his vaccine today and protect him from COVID,” Ahn said.
Dr. David Wolfson, medical director of Children’s Community Pediatrics, said he’d heard from families eager to make an appointment for their children.
“This is a big day,” Wolfson said. “Parents have had to carry the burden of worry for years because they have to keep themselves healthy and worry about their own children.”
He added that while this UPMC facility was giving the Moderna shot, a Pfizer vaccine was also available in Pittsburgh. Clinics at CCP locations are available for existing patients of the system. However there will be a vaccination clinic for all children ages 6 months through 5 years next Wednesday, June 29 at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Bloomfield. It will take place from 4-6 p.m. and parents can register here.
