GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — No doubt, parents have done what they could to keep their kids safe during the pandemic. For many, that includes getting their young children vaccinated.
According to the NC Department of Health and Human Services online dashboard, as of November 17, 9% of children ages 5-11 have received at least one dose of the vaccine. That is about 76,396 kids.
One Triad mom said when her five-year-old son got his first dose, it finally put her at ease.
"It was almost a year ago, he had it in February of 2020, that was before vaccinations were available to us, so it was a pretty scary time," Kristina Bell said.
Children are resilient, but can still catch COVID-19.
"It was terrifying," Bell said.
Bell's son, Jamie, is five-years-old. She said when he was sick with COVID-19 it was a scary, stressful time.
"We were very scared, but at the same time you can't social distance from a five-year-old," Bell said. "We were comforting him, reading books to him, and hugging him because he needed that."
Thankfully Bell said her son's symptoms from contracting COVID-19 were mild.
The Medical Director for Infectious Prevention at Cone Health, Dr. Cynthia Snider, said it's important to know symptoms, including the more serious ones.
"With children especially, if you are having shortness of breath I would say like a rapid, like respiratory rate, those are alarming symptoms," Snider said. "Especially if kids are not as alert as they normally should be in the setting of a high fever."
Bell said now she can breathe a sigh of relief because her son got his first dose.
"I teared up when he got vaccinated. I think a lot of people had a sense of relief back in April when adults were getting vaccinated, but for me, I never really felt I could relax until he got his first shot in his arm," Bell said.
According to Cone Health, there are fewer than five children currently admitted for COVID-19. Brenner Children's Hospital also reports a low number of children hospitalized with covid.