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Butte to start vaccinating kids ages 5 to 11 against COVID-19

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Posted at 11:17 AM, Nov 10, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-10 13:17:54-05

BUTTE — The Butte-Silver Bow Health Department will be ready to vaccinate the county’s young residents between 5 and 11 years old beginning next week.

It’s something that health officials will do a little bit slower, so parents and their children will be comfortable with the process.

“Kids don’t always speak up right away, they don’t know how to convey that all the time, so we want to take the time to make sure they’re okay with what’s going on. They’re just little, just little kids,” said Diane Regan with the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department.

The health department says vaccinating children is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“They’re not wearing the masks, they’re hugging each other on the playground and doing whatever else and being kids, because that’s what they do, so the spread of the infection with the infection is pretty quick with these kids,” said Regan.

The health department will administer a vaccine by Pfizer that’s designed for children. Parents can make appointments with the health department and nurses will take time to answer any questions or address concerns.

“The whole pandemic has been scary, so how do you get them the information they need to make the best decision for themselves? And the social media rabbit hole is where a lot of the misinformation is, so we don’t want them to just go by what they heard,” said Registered Nurse Karen Maloughney.

For health officials, fighting the misinformation is almost as exhausting as fighting the virus itself, but getting children vaccinated is the last battle in a long fight.

“None of these has been easy for any of us, that’s for sure. Trying to convince people to get vaccinated and save a life. Every day for the past almost two years now, it’s a lot. All the people here are tired and all we want is to get to the other side of this as quick as we can and that’s the vaccine that’s going to help us get there,” said Maloughney.