TOLEDO, Ohio — The CDC is expected to give the final go-ahead on Saturday for COVID-19 vaccines for kids 5 and younger. They're the only age group still unable to get vaccinated.
They could get vaccinated beginning next week.
While medical experts are pushing for parents to have their children vaccinated, not everyone is thrilled about the idea.
It's a decision that many parents, caregivers and doctors have been waiting for.
But medical experts worry that even though COVID-19 vaccines are now authorized for those little ones, parents might not take their kids to get the shot.
The CDC reports more than 440 children ages four and under have died from COVID.
Dr. John McBride with Franklin Park Pediatrics said they need to be protected.
"I had a nine-month-old baby three weeks ago with COVID," he said. "The baby is doing great, but it would have been even better if it was so mild that they didn't even have to come see me."
Parents are questioning why their children need it if they've stayed healthy for the past two years without it.
"I think if you have a healthy little one and he or she is thriving, I don't know that I would want to add anything else to their chemistry to possibly hurt it," said Jeff Stewart, who's a grandfather.
"My kids is my world and if I put that shot into them and they get messed up - their bodies gets messed up - that would be on me because I chose to give them that shot, because it was told that we needed to get the shot," said mother of two, Christine Steiger. "Yeah, I'm not for it."
McBride explained parents need to have confidence in those who are caring for their children.
"We have six pediatricians here, we've all vaccinated our own children. We have pediatricians here who are going to be vaccinating their grandchildren next week," McBride said. "We are the ones who know vaccines. Nobody knows vaccines like we do."
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports only 29% of kids 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated.