According to a South West Regional Health Authority official, 101 children got their first jab of the Pfizer covid19 vaccine at the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) in La Brea on Thursday.

When Newsday visited the site on Thursday, Darren Chattoo said it was a priority for his daughter to get the jab given his first-hand experience of having a family member get covid19.

Chattoo told Newsday, “My mom is in the hospital right now with covid19 because she did not get (fully vaccinated) in time.

“It’s sad the experience that she is having there and I have to watch her go through it.

“It is hard hearing her unable to speak properly with breathing problem. Knowing the pain that she has to go through is devastating.”

Apart from his mom’s experience, Chattoo is also worried about the danger posed by the different covid19 variants.

Chattoo’s daughter, Jalayna Chattoo, 14, was happy to get vaccinated and looks forward to school reopening physically soon.

[caption id="attachment_908473" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Alayna Chattoo from Penal got her first vaccine shot of the Pfizer vaccine at the NESC La Brea centre - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]

Siblings Jaylon and Jinessia Williams, from Point Fortin, got vaccinated together to help each other through the nerves.

Jinessia, 13, told Newsday the vaccination process was smooth and she had no nerves.

She encourages other young people to get vaccinated.

Now that he’s vaccinated, Jaylon, 15, looks forward to attending classes physically again.

Elsewhere in south Trinidad on Thursday, 438 children got their first Pfizer jab at the MIC Institute of Technology in Pleasantville.

As of the Thursday, NESC La Brea site was one of just eight operationalised by the Ministry of Health to give Pfizer jabs to children.

But in a press release on Thursday, the Health Ministry announced the addition of new sites which include Centre Point Mall, Chaguanas, the Paddock at the Queen’s Park Savannah, the Penal PowerGen site and the South West Regional Indoor Sport Arena.

On Thursday, the ministry reported that 3,702 children across Trinidad received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday which was the first day of the effort to vaccinate children.

Vaccination of children in Tobago began on Thursday.