Oakland County Exec pleads for parents to get kids vaccinated after rise in hospitalizations

FOX 2 - Top state health officials and pediatricians are urging parents of young children to get them vaccinated -- now that the Pfizer shot has been approved for kids 5 and up.

The new recommendation applies to about 825,000 children in Michigan.

"For me, it was really another reason for hope," said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter.

Hope that when the FDA and CDC approved the Covid vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11, maybe the public health crisis would end.

"The availability of a vaccine for kids between the ages of five and 11 means that the transmission of the virus, including a highly contagious delta variant, can be slowed dramatically," Coulter said.

And on Thursday, Coulter made a plea to parents to get their children vaccinated, because there has been an increase in kids going to the hospital.

"And of those that are going to the hospital, a third end up in ICU," Coulter said.

And why should kids get the vaccine now?

"Because it will allow us, as well as the children, to get back to normal," said Dr. Tonya Touchstone, pediatrician Children's Hospital. "To go to school, to participate in activities that they have been unable to do for the last year or two years."

Coulter says 75 percent of eligible residents in Oakland County, have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.  And what's even better, is the vaccination rate of its seniors.

"Our senior population 65 and older in Oakland County, is 89 percent vaccinated," he said.

Anyone 18 or under, does need a parent or guardian present when the child is vaccinated.

"Our seniors are taking it seriously and I just encourage everyone else to do the same thing," Coulter said.

For more information in Oakland County on times and locations for vaccinations GO HERE.