KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - On the outside, Emma-Kate Stibler is like any other active 13-year-old. She plays volleyball, swims competitively, golfs, skis and enjoys summer camp with her friends. However, that all changed when COVID-19 cases spread across the country in 2020.
Practices, games, competitions and camps were suddenly all canceled as soon as they were supposed to start. Stibler began feeling isolated.
“I was really stressed because I didn’t like doing online school. It was harder, and I felt like my teachers made work easier. I was afraid because I didn’t know when we would get to do activities that we normally had to do,” Stibler told Knox News.
“They kept saying, ‘Oh, well, the pandemic will be over in a month,’ and then they would say it’d be like two months and it’d be like four months. I was like, ‘Is it ever gonna end?’”
Luckily, Emma’s mom, Betsy, recognized her pain. As an attorney who focuses on family and juvenile litigation, Betsy has seen the same emotional overload happen to children in East Tennessee throughout the pandemic.
“The pandemic has put mental stress on kids of all ages and adults, but it’s so different when you’re a child and you feel like you don’t have a lot of control over things,” Betsy said.
“Any opportunity we can take to provide more security, more normalcy for all children is really a good thing. We can want the schools to be open. We can want the schools not to require masks. But unless we’re doing our part to make that a reality, we don’t have a very large right to ask them to do something different.”
The pressure built as the months at home passed by. Then, the Stiblers saw a light at the end of the tunnel: vaccinations. Emma was upset to learn that she and anyone else under 16 wouldn’t be inoculated for some time, so, just like her mother said, she decided to do her part by enrolling in a children’s COVID-19 vaccination trial.
VYING FOR A VACCINE
Emma, who is in the seventh grade, said she first heard about COVID-19 vaccines on the news. She was familiar with mRNA technology because she had learned about it in her science class.
“I could put two and two together,” Emma said. “That’s when I decided I wanted to get vaccinated.”
Betsy told Knox News that as a child of an attorney, Emma cannily and consistently asked her to be enrolled in a nearby trial.
“She wouldn’t drop it. ‘Don’t forget to try to get me signed up today.’ ‘Don’t forget to call on a vaccine trial.’ Finally, one day, she said, ‘Have you gotten me in a trial yet?,’ and I was like ‘Jesus, that’s all I’m gonna do today,’” Betsy laughed. “So, I sat down that very morning after I had taken her to school, and I called and called and called and called, trying to find anywhere within driving distance. I even looked at possibly flying someplace.”
Betsy finally found a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial for 12- to 15-year-olds in Bardstown, Kentucky, which was about four hours away from their home in Talbott, Tennessee.
“I hate going to the doctor and getting shots or anything, but I really wanted to help kids get vaccinated and participate,” Emma said.
“That’s how willing she was to do the trial,” Betsy said.
Emma and her mom packed up the car early on the day of her first dose. The January morning was chilly, but Emma didn’t mind because she was determined to get the shot. Four hours later, she was getting a full physical examination, sticking a swab up her nose to test for COVID-19, getting her blood drawn and filling out a pile of consent forms.
The trial was Emma’s first, but Betsy and one of her other children have been involved in scientific studies. Betsy had COVID-19 in November and participated in a monoclonal antibodies test. Emma’s older brother was part of an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial.
Betsy told Knox News because of her background, she was able to support Emma’s choice to get vaccinated, although others may be more cautious. Betsy majored in biology and chemistry in college and sold pharmaceuticals before becoming an attorney.
“I love science. I believe in science. I think God made science. It’s brilliant, so we should use it,” Betsy said. “But she was into it, and I was able to be completely supportive of that because I get it and understand it.”
Emma said her first shot was painless. She rode the four hours back home in the passenger seat without any side effects. The next day, Emma said her arm was sore and swollen, common symptoms for anyone after getting vaccinated. Emma logged how she felt and her highest temperature each day on an app she downloaded on her phone for the trial.
Three weeks later, Emma and Betsy returned to the Kentucky lab. Emma repeated all of the steps before getting her final shot. At home the day after, Emma reported having a fever, feeling sore and being tired. Emma felt fine by the next day, and she still doesn’t have any regrets. In fact, she’s hoping her experience encourages others including her friends to get vaccinated when they can.
“We’ve got some friends that are not as pro-vaccination as others, so there’s a little bit of a rub there. But for the most part, her relationships and mine with other parents that are not as pro-vaccination, it’s been like, ‘Hey, you do you, we’ll do us and everybody’s happy for it,‘” Betsy said.
“It takes a lot of guts and nerve at 13 to do that, to tell friends that are being raised to believe that something is slightly different than you about your experience.”
Emma still reports her symptoms and records temperatures each week. She was selected to continue providing COVID-19 test swabs every two weeks to help researchers understand transmission after vaccination. Emma and the other 1,999 kids in the study will do so for up to two years – or longer, depending on the need for booster shots.
‘BRILLIANCE’ NEEDED TO BEAT COVID-19 IN KIDS
Emma won’t know if she received a COVID-19 vaccination in the blind study until the Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorization for the Pfizer shots. If she got a placebo, she’ll be vaccinated, but that’s not why Emma is eager for the announcement.
“If we got it authorized, I would say that everyone who can should get vaccinated,” Emma said. “It’s not scary. If you’re vaccinated, it’ll help get back to normal like everyone wants.”
The FDA started reviewing Pfizer’s request for clearance to administer the two-shot sequence to kids 12 to 15 years old in early April. The three vaccines available for adults were authorized in about three weeks, so the agency’s decision is expected soon. If the vaccine is authorized for emergency use, children could be given shots by the next day.
Even if children choose to get vaccinated, parents play an influential part in their decisions. Betsy wants to offer advice from her family’s experience to anyone who might be hesitant about being vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Vaccinations are very personal, and for whatever reason, they’ve become very political. Talk to doctors. Try to understand the science. It’s not voodoo. It’s not magic. It’s brilliance,” Betsy told Knox News.
“Ultimately, you got to do the right thing for your family and your kids, but at least make sure you’re making an informed decision.”
Emma is excited to hear if she got vaccinated and return to her favorite activities, but what she really can’t wait for is for her friends and teammates to be able to safely be together again.
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