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Teens Get First COVID-19 Shots As State Encourages Vaccinations Before School

WRENTHAM (CBS) - Minutes after Governor Charlie Baker finished touring a school vaccination clinic in Everett Monday, Nora Tobichuk received her first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a similar clinic in Wrentham.

"It felt like a shot," she said. "It wasn't anything crazy."

Nora's family is vaccinated, but they'd held out for 13-year-old Nora's first shot, unsure if it was the right move. "My parents weren't sure in the beginning, but then they were like, 'you are probably going to miss out on a lot of you don't [get a shot],'" she told WBZ.

Her mom Barbara said Pfizer's full FDA approval for adults made her feel comfortable finally getting Nora a shot. "We were a little hesitant initially, but it seems like all the kids are going to have to be vaccinated," she said. "And now that Pfizer has been approved, we made the decision to go forward."

Nora says some, but not all, of her friends are already vaccinated against COVID-19 as they head into eighth grade. "There's a lot of different opinions that go around," she explained.

Inspiring kids like Nora -- and their parents -- to get vaccinated is the current focus of the Baker administration, with roughly 100 school site vaccination clinics popping up statewide.

CHECK: Town By Town School Aged Vaccination Rates

The state has also instituted incentives for eligible kids to get a shot. The state's school mask mandate could be lifted on October 1, but only at schools with a vaccination rate of 80 percent or higher, and only vaccinated students and teachers would be allowed to drop their masks.

"We thought we would contribute to it as far as increasing the number of children vaccinated," Barbara Tobichuk explained.

Massachusetts is currently the second most vaccinated state in the country, falling only behind Vermont.

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