Courtney Luciana photo
Derek Flagge (owner) hands out slices of pizza to those who just got vaxxed.
Thirteen year-old Miranda Higbee was “really excited” to get vaccinated Thursday.
“Because,” she said, “I’m ready for Covid-19 to end.”
Miranda (at left in above photo) was among the first wave of tweens and teens to get their shots on the first day that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for 12 – 15 year-olds.
She got hers at a pop-up FEMA Mobile vaccination clinic on the Green. She said now that she has been vaccinated she will be attending YMCA Camp Huckins in New Hampshire this summer.
East Rock’s ONE 6 Three made 80 pizzas during FEMA’s first day of the mobile walk-up vaccination site after a total of 146 people were vaccinated. Kids like Higbee and those still unvaccinated were just as motivated on Thursday to get their shot in exchange for a slice of cheese or pepperoni, margherita, or fresh tomato pizza.
(Click here for details on the various walk-in options in New Haven for getting a vaccination. Everyone 12 years and older is now eligible.)
Floyd Little Athletic Center COVID-19 vaccination site Thursday.
The newly-eligible 12 – 15 year-olds showed up in greater numbers later Thursday at the daily Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) mass vaccination clinic at Hillhouse High School’s Floyd Little Athletic Center, which handled 1,700 appointments while still offering walk-ins. A crowds of 100 people entered inside the building at once to receive their vaccinations.
Luke Picheny, 15, said that he was always planning on getting vaccinated. Liz Solovay, his mother, said that they were “ready, waiting, and eager” to have Picheny vaccinated. They heard about the clinic through a family friend. Solovay said that it was hard to find an appointment nearby where they live in Westport.
“It’s a pretty far drive,” Picheny said. “My friends haven’t really talked about getting vaccinated, but I think most of them want to. I want to be protected from long-term effects. I wouldn’t say I was worried about getting Covid-19, but I have respect for it. I understand the risks of Covid-19, and I feel like it’s best to get vaccinated.”
The Reyes family.
Sophia Reyes,15, Diego Reyes, 12, and father, Roberto Reyes attended the vaccination site as a family. They live only 15 minutes away. Roberto said that he wanted Sophia and Diego to get vaccinated to avoid the risk of them contracting coronavirus and spreading it to the youngest of their younger sisters, who is only 4 years old.
“Pretty much everyone in my house wanted to get vaccinated,” Roberto said. “I know that there’s a lot of doubt in the vaccine because of all of the news we’ve been seeing of different reactions from people.
Diego said he gained trust in the vaccine once he saw how his father handled receiving the Pfizer vaccination from a few weeks ago.
“He got the shot and said it didn’t hurt so that helped,” Diego said.
“Now that I’m vaccinated it means that I won’t be afraid to get Covid-19 as much as I was before,” Sophia said.
Logan and Jennifer Herbin anxiously ran inside into the athletic center. Logan,13, said that now he has been vaccinated, he will be attending camp this summer with Boy Scouts of America. Jennifer Herbin, his mother, said that she was happy to see the day finally arrive for her son to get his shot.
“Hopefully we can get back to some kind of normal,” Jennifer said.
Owen, 14, and Jen (who declined to offer their last names) said they were beyond relieved to get their shots. Owen’s father had already been vaccinated at Floyd Little Athletic Center before and they had been paying close attention to YNHH’s site as a family for further updates.
“We’ve been ready to go,” Jen said. “I think honestly that the only way out of the pandemic is for us to all get vaccinated. Even if you’re a little nervous about the vaccine, I think it’s safer than getting Covid-19.”
Owen’s sister, who is 17, has also already been vaccinated. He said that getting his shot means he gets to make more of them now on the basketball court.
“I just signed up for basketball camp for this summer,” Owen said. “Because of Covid-19 I didn’t get to play last year. I missed playing.”
YNHH distributed doses from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Hundreds of attendees were quickly moved in and out of their appointment. People were lined up out of the door by 6 p.m.
For Sofia Urios-Siebert, 14, said the conversation about Floyd’s site had spread around among her fellow classmates. Sofia said that she’s happy about getting vaccinated because now they will be able to visit her family in Spain this summer.
“It’s just nice to finally get vaccinated,” Sofia said. “We’re planning on finally getting to see family in Spain this summer. I’m very excited!”
Cristin said that if Sofia had not wanted to get vaccinated, then she wouldn’t have been forced to.
“I think some people are just very suspicious about vaccines and then because it’s still new is why some parents don’t want to get their child vaccinated,” Cristin said. “It was her decision but I’m not nervous at all for her.”
Sofia Urios-Siebert.
YNHH RN Sandy Cuapio-Romero gave Sofia her shot.
“A year ago, where were we?” YNHH’s Cuapio-Romero said, to Sofia. “Your second appointment is June 3. Same time, same place.”
“We’re getting closer and making our way there. I’m very happy to see children coming out today and being as optimistic as they are,” Cuapio-Romero said. “Hopefully we can start going back to our lives. We’ve put so much on hold.”
Paige Lepisto, 15, attended from Cheshire with her mother, Kathy Carlucci. They heard about the event through a family friend who works at Yale. Carlucci said that she absolutely wanted Lepisto to get her Pfizer shot.
“I think that the risks in actually getting Covid-19 are higher than any risks that are involved in vaccinating her,” Carlucci said. “We were really excited to do it.”
Lepisto said she knew right away without question that she wanted to get vaccinated and scheduled the appointment through the MyChart application easily.
“My high school [Cheshire] is doing a clinic this weekend, but we just came here first,” Lepisto said. “I definitely wanted to get vaccinated. I want to go back to just normal life, and I felt like that would be easiest if I just got the vaccine.”
Lepisto said that Covid-19 meant putting life on pause. A competitive dancer, she was unable to compete. Now she plans on traveling to the Outer Banks this summer and going to Boston for dance lessons.
“Going into quarantine and then risking getting Covid-19 meant everything was canceled,” Lepisto said. “And now that I’m vaccinated it’s just a sigh of relief.”
“I think that if you keep up with the research and you follow the science then it makes it an easy decision,” Carlucci added.
For the Westport folks, I'm glad you're getting vaccinated! However, there are options closer than New Haven. Stamford Hospital offers Pfizer vaccines at 2 sites in Stamford, there is Pfizer clinic at the Lord & Taylor parking lot in Stamford, and Hartford Healthcare has vaccine sites in Fairfield and Bridgeport which you can call ahead to see if they're offering Pfizer or not.