Four doctors at Cohen Children's Medical Center stood behind their children as they received their COVID-19 vaccination.
Nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first American to be vaccinated, held the hand of 9-year-old Desiree Mohammadi as she received her first dose of the vaccine.
Desiree broke open her piggy bank and donated her life savings of $52 to support health care workers during pandemic.
Desiree asked for Lindsay to be there to hold her hand.
"Just to really support her and thank her and the other children for their bravery," Lindsay said.
Following clearance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week, the vaccine is now be available to 28 million children in the United States.
Also receiving the vaccine Thursday were: Nora Gossett, 7, the daughter of Jeff Gossett, MD, vice president and system chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Cohen Children's.
Dr. Gossett addressed parental concerns about vaccine reactions resulting in myocarditis and the very real possibility of cardiac damage that results from a severe case of COVID-19 in children.
"I've seen kids die from COVID, and I've seen kids hearts be pretty sick from COVID," Dr. Gossett said.
"I felt a little nervous, but then also excited," Nora said after receiving her shot.
Maya Schneider, 10, is the daughter of James Schneider, MD, Chief, Pediatric Critical Care.
Aarav Goenka, 9, and his 8-year-old brother, Anmay, are the sons of Pratichi Goenka, MD, and Anuj Goenka, MD. Their mother is a hospitalist at Cohen Children's; their father is a radiation oncologist at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute. Dr. Pratichi discussed the difficulties faced by children as they recover from COVID-19.
"I still remember the first patient that I took care of back in March that had COVID pneumonia, a 16-year-old boy who was so scared," Dr. Pratichi said.
"Just close your eyes or hold your mom's hands then just stick with it, and get the shot," Anmay said.
Jaishan Baweja, 8, is the son of Mundeep Kainth, MD, pediatric infectious disease doctor.
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