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9-year-old Milwaukee girl who asked Biden for COVID-19 vaccine gets first dose

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MILWAUKEE — The 9-year-old Milwaukee girl who asked President Joe Biden when would children be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year has now received the vaccine herself.

Aurora Health says Layla Salas got her first shot at Aurora Health Center – Good Hope on Wednesday with her younger brother Mateo.

During a CNN town fall in Milwaukee last February, Layla's mother asked her daughter's question to the president.

"When will kids be able to get the vaccine?" the mother asked.

President Biden replied that they were working on getting that age group the vaccine.

Biden said, "Kids don't get COVID very often. It's unusual for that to happen. They don't -- the evidence so far is children aren't the people most likely to get COVID."

"Don't be scared, honey. Don't be scared. You're going to be fine, and we're going to make sure mommy's fine, too," he said.

During an event at Aurora this week, Layla said, "now that I went through it, I would just say, don't be scared, it doesn't feel like anyway, like anything. But it'll help you be safer around friends and family."

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is now available for children ages five to 11 after the FDA and CDC gave their approval earlier this month.

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