OU Health Doctor Enrolls Son In Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

An Oklahoma doctor is sharing why she enrolled her one-year-old son in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trial on babies.

Dr. Shauna Lawlis is a pediatrician with OU Health and says she jumped on the opportunity to enroll her 12-month-old son Rhys into Moderna's clinical trials.

Right now, Moderna is testing the vaccine on kids between the ages of 6 months and 6 years old in Oklahoma.

The company's COVID-19 vaccine has only been approved for adults 18 and older, but they are hoping to eventually expand it in some form to all ages.

Being a doctor, Lawlis says she was made aware of the trial at the Lynn Health Institute in Oklahoma City and wanted to get her son vaccinated as soon as possible.

Lawlis says being pregnant and then a new mom during the pandemic has been tough and they've been extra careful to make sure Rhys has not been exposed.

The trial is randomized, meaning some of the doses are not the vaccine, but Lawlis says he has a 75 percent chance.

Lawlis says she trusts the science and grew up around clinical trials and medication development.

"Also being a doctor and being around colleagues who had a lot of experience with it and we could read the papers on it and really understand it, it made a lot of sense to me," said Lawlis.

Rhys will go back in a few weeks for a second dose and more blood draws.

On Tuesday, the CDC approved Pfizer's vaccine for kids 5 and up.

Not all parents are on board though.

A Kaiser family foundation poll says only 27 percent of parents will vaccinate their kids between 5 and 11 right away.