Child To Get Real Shot After Placebo In COVID Vaccine Trial

The rollout of COVID vaccines for children under the age of five has begun, a moment many families have been waiting for. One parent, Nicole Poole, was unknowingly one of them.

"We are now moving forward with getting Arlo a real vaccine," Poole said.

CBS4 met Poole and 8-month-old Arlo in February while they were in the middle of the Moderna COVID vaccine trial.

"Doing these little things being able to get into the study in the first place was at least something I felt like something I can do in a state of feeling like you can't do much," she told us in February.

During the trial, Arlo, unfortunately, contracted COVID and while Poole had been suspicious, she was told Sunday that Arlo was in fact given a placebo.

"He was able to contribute his data to that on how he did without getting a vaccine. I'm grateful we had the opportunity to contribute and help get it through to the rest of the little ones in the U.S. and the world," she said.

Dr. Myron Levin with the Colorado School of medicine and a team of researchers ran the study that started just after Thanksgiving.

"There is a lot of effort put into the safety issue because one of the fears of parents is that we don't know enough about it in children," he said.

Those involved in the study used an app to instantly report any concerns, and Levin says no adverse reactions were reported.

Their data was used to help lead to the FDA and CDC approval and ideally, Dr. Levin says more of a green light from parents.

"The benefits far exceed the risks. There are risks with every vaccine, but they are very small... that's why we vaccinated," Dr. Levin said.

For Poole, who just celebrated Arlo's first birthday, his health is the top priority and for her family, that means getting the vaccine.

"This is also probably therapeutic for me to kind of let the air out of my lungs a little bit and be able to feel more comfortable normalizing a bit of our life, keeping the people who are higher risk in our family safer because of Arlo being more protected," she said.

Dr. Levin says administering these vaccines will be done similarly to those for older children, many have been provided through pediatricians. Pharmacies like Walgreens are also offering them as well we checked and they currently have several openings now.