SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio mother is sharing her family’s story after her children received the COVID-19 shot in August in a Moderna vaccine trial.
“I jumped at the opportunity to be able to, you know, potentially get my kids vaccinated right around the time school was starting,” said Melissa Hoelscher, a San Antonio resident.
Hoelscher said her 8-year-old twins and 10-year-old daughter participated in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine study called KidCOVE.
“The clinic that we went to is actually out in Port Lavaca,” Hoelscher said.
Her children received their first shot at the end of August and their second shot four weeks later.
“The first shot, the girls got big red spots on their arms that were warm to the touch and were sore, but no fevers. They didn’t ever really feel ill or even tired at all,” Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher had to monitor her kids’ symptoms and fill out health forms every day as part of the study.
“Before they ate breakfast, we would take their temperature and document that as part of one of the surveys that we had to do,” Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher said the family found out her two daughters ended up getting the COVID-19 vaccine in the study and her son didn’t, so they took him to get the Pfizer shot.
“He’s doing great. His arm was a little sore this morning, but he didn’t actually have any redness. It didn’t feel warm to the touch,” Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher said her kids are all doing fine and has a message for parents thinking of getting their kids vaccinated.
“If you’re hesitant, talk to your doctor. But, you know, for my kids, I know the side effects were way less than for my husband and my parents when they got the shot,” Hoelscher said.
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