Salinas mother gets toddler vaccinated to travel back to the Phillippines

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)-- The Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System helped a local family journey again after COVID-19 made it impossible for them to visit the Phillippines.

Michelle and Jose Salvador had their youngest child Dennis, 19 months old, get vaccinated against COVID-19 Wednesday.

"It's really important to us because we want to make sure that he's also protected," said Michelle Salvador. We're all vaccinated, my husband, myself and Luna. We're all vaccinated and he didn't have anything. It's always kind of scary."

This was a relief for the family, especially after their eldest daughter Luna, 6 years old, got COVID-19 and came down with a 102 fever for three to four days. Mom and big sister were there to hold Dennis' hand while he got his first dose.

"She's always been really strong and she's always been up and going, and when she got sick and when I was taking her to the doctor," said Mrs. Salvador. "I look back and I was like 'oh shoot, this is not good' cause she was down."

Now that Dennis is vaccinated, and Luna has already been vaccinated, they hope to travel again within a year or two. A trip to the Phillippines was a yearly trip before the pandemic.

Monday, Salinas Valley Medical Center received 600 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Last week, the CDC and FDA gave the go-ahead to have kids as young as 6 months old get vaccinated.

Doctors still stress that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself from getting sick. Dr. Klick with Salinas Valley Medical Center says parents still hesitant to vaccinate their kids should speak with their pediatrician first.

"When we go into the fall and winter months, I anticipate, and a lot of forecasting by health experts and public health experts, that we may start seeing an uptick again," said Dr. Klick.

There are 48 people hospitalized because of COVID-19 in Monterey County, with two people in the ICU, according to the county's website. Even though people are vaccinated, doctors say this is not the time to get complacent.

Dr. Klick said she has not seen severe COVID in kids like adults, but they can still develop long COVID symptoms.