“I’m very excited that it’s finally here! I really didn’t think it was going to take this long,” said Amy Velasco who, like many parents, was thrilled that COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest kids finally neared emergency federal authorization. The Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee held hearings Wednesday on trial results for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that would immunize children ages 6 months to 5 years.
Nick Giglia signed up his 2-year-old daughter for the Pfizer trial and says she breezed through it. The Montclair father of two testified before the committee. Giglia criticized the long delay in getting COVID-19 vaccines tested and approved for the youngest kids. “We felt abandoned. We’ve done everything we can to keep COVID out of our home,” he said. “And we’ve been promised that relief was coming in a matter of weeks — for almost a year. So at some point, hope gives way to frustration. I’ve been very concerned as a parent that these delays have undermined confidence in these vaccines.”
