MILWAUKEE — COVID-19 continues to be a concern this school year, and in the last few weeks, we've seen a significant rise in kids getting infected. With all Milwaukee Public Schools in session next week, we spoke with parents about if they're concerned.
Some of the parents say they have peace-of-mind because their kids are vaccinated, but for parents of kids under age 12, that layer of protection still isn't available.
Julian Jasper was picking up his daughter from Milwaukee Excellence High School earlier Thursday.
"I'm always concerned about it. I know that the school is taking every precaution," said Jasper.
Of course his concerns grow as case numbers grow.
"It's a trend that we're seeing nationally," said Dr. William Hartman with UW Health. "More and more kids are becoming infected with COVID-19. We need to figure out how to get that under control, especially with school starting, sports starting back up here again."
According to health experts, infections in kids are growing two to four percent faster than the general population.
"As long as they're being safe, but there's still that hidden, that unknown," said Jasper.
Jasper says he does have some sense of relief knowing his daughter is vaccinated against COVID-19.
"As soon as they OK'd it, you know, from 12 and up, right away we made an appointment to get her in," said Jasper.
But he feels for families with kids not yet old enough to get vaccinated.
Luckily, that's in the works.
UW Health is one of the sites participating in the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trial with Moderna.
"We started doing injections on these kids last week," said Hartman.
The hope is that the trial in kids ages 6 to 12 will wrap up in October, with emergency use authorization coming in December.
But in the meantime, he says it's important that everyone stays diligent when it comes to preventative measures.