Let’s support COVID vaccination efforts for children and families

This time last year, I was not feeling as hopeful as I am today. For months, families across Illinois were put in impossible situations to care for their loved ones during this pandemic. Even while facing such circumstances, caregivers used ingenuity every waking minute to protect, entertain, inspire and educate.

When autumn came, I felt my muscles tighten with apprehension. How would we make it through another pandemic winter? As if right on cue, good news came with the season of thanks: a COVID-19 vaccination was approved for children five years of age and older.

This ability to provide an additional level of protection for our children means something different to everyone. For those of us who spend our working hours serving our youngest (and, therefore, most vulnerable) population, it is hard to ignore the peace that accompanies this new moment for children’s health and safety.

Parents have been forced to make unbelievable accommodations and sacrifices to ensure safety for their children. Our hands have felt tied, and our collective mental health has suffered.

But with this tangible opportunity, we can offer a little of the intangible back to our children. We can give them some freedom, some space and ultimately some happiness with this vaccine — and nothing fulfills parents more than the happiness of their children.

I recognize how far we have yet to go, for the stress and trauma of this pandemic to be fully behind us. But it is worth celebrating successes. Each day, more adults choose to protect themselves and their communities by getting vaccinated.

That this vaccine is now available for children over five years old is worthy of celebration. I have hope it will soon be available for children under five years old, too.

I encourage all of us in the nonprofit and service sectors to seize this moment to support vaccination efforts for children and families.

April Janney, president and CEO,

Illinois Action for Children

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