Cara Bookman, 2, receives a modern-day coronavirus vaccine in her leg while her father, Max Bookman, holds it Wednesday at a children’s vaccination site in Times Square. Credit … Brittainy Newman for The New York Times
New York City families began vaccinating children under the age of 5 against Covid-19 on Wednesday after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the vaccines over the weekend.
In a city that was once the epicenter of the Covid pandemic, many parents have been eager to vaccinate the last age group still waiting for vaccinations, the youngest children, and quickly moved to book appointments.
Some health care providers planned to start offering vaccines to young children on Wednesday, including pharmacies like Walgreens, which serve children 3 years of age and older. Vaccine centers in the city, which serve children 6 months and older, and 10 of them in total, began to open, and appointments were available on the city’s website “Vaccine Finder “.
On Wednesday morning, about two dozen parents, some with small children in tow and others pushing babies with strollers or carrying them on their chests, arrived at the city’s immunization center in Times Square, as did Mayor Eric Adams. and Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the health commissioner, toured the site.
“We’ve been waiting two and a half years for this moment to protect our little ones,” said Dr. Vasan. “This is a great day. It is a great day for our city. It is a great day for our country.”
A health department spokesman said the Times Square location had about 150 appointments booked for Wednesday, with a capacity for more than 2,500 a week.
One of the first parents in line early Wednesday was Max Bookman, 34, a lawyer on the Upper East Side. She was carrying her 2-year-old son, Cara. The pig-tailed boy looked unperturbed under his fish mask and did not even cry after the shot, but enjoyed applause from the journalists watching.
Cara was 5 months old when the pandemic started and Mr. Bookman said he had never been to a grocery store. She was eager to finally be able to do indoor activities with her, she said, “all the normal things kids are supposed to do in their lives.”
On Tuesday, New York City went from medium to high risk for Covid-19 as virus cases and hospitalization rates continue to fall. Broadway theaters will be able to drop their mask mandates starting July 1, and Mayor Eric Adams recently removed a mask mandate for young children.
Mr Adams, a Democrat who took office in January, said New Yorkers were doing the right thing to contain the virus, such as getting vaccinated, trying on and wearing masks, and said vaccinating children under 5 years was the next step.
“We know that there is no greater defense against this virus than vaccination, and that is why we are happy that young children are now eligible for the protection they deserve,” Mr. Adams in a statement Tuesday.
Jami Wolf in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his daughter, Regan Dolan, whom he planned to vaccinate. Credit … Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times
Jami Wolf, the mother of a 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter living in South Slope, Brooklyn, said she was “extremely excited” about the arrival of smallpox vaccines.
“We’ve been waiting for this for the time the pandemic has started,” he said. “I was pretty much the first on the line when they launched the vaccines for kids ages 5 to 12, and I plan to be the first on the line, so to speak, for that release as well.”
Ms Wolf said she had found an appointment available for Wednesday afternoon, although she said the process for finding an appointment on Tuesday had been “frustrating”.
The mayor’s office said appointments would be available for the city’s vaccine centers on Tuesday at 9 p.m., but the website was not uploaded until almost 9:45 p.m. Mark Levine, the president of the Manhattan district, said of the delays that it was “unacceptable to pass this on to parents.”
The number of daily cases in the city has dropped to about 2,800, from about 4,300 last month, according to city data, although the actual number is probably much higher because the city count does not include most home testing. Some 740 people are hospitalized with the virus in the city.
Some parents said they were more cautious when it came to vaccinating younger children. Andrea Thomas, 35, a mother who lives in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, said she had “no reservations” about vaccinating her 13-year-old son and now had more doubts about her 4-year-old daughter. Her whole family got the coronavirus a month and a half ago, giving her daughter some immunity, and she is worried about possible side effects.
“If I hadn’t had it, I would have felt different,” he said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Adams acknowledged that parents may have concerns about vaccines. “Adult vaccines are one thing,” he said. “Children’s vaccines, parents will have a lot of questions.”
When the CDC recommended vaccinations for very young children on Saturday, the agency noted, “All children, including those who have already had Covid-19, should be vaccinated.”
Correction:
June 22, 2022
An earlier version of this article mistaken the neighborhood represented by Mark Levine. It’s Manhattan, not Brooklyn.
– Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Freytas-Tamura Chemistry and Kvetenadze Tea