Malyna Trujillo turns 16 next month and said she has yet to be vaccinated.
She won't have to wait until her birthday to receive the COVID-19 vaccine after the Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Pfizer's vaccine for kids as young as 12 on an emergency use basis.
The FDA approval comes as Santa Clara County is already pushing to get more teens to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. Officials said as of Monday only 16% of 16- and 17-year-olds in Santa Clara County are fully vaccinated.
The county and San Francisco 49ers are hoping to increase those numbers with this week's teen vaccination nights program. On Monday, a handful of high school students came to the kickoff event at the Levi's Stadium mass vaccination site to urge others to follow their lead.
"I got vaccinated so that I would be able to be with my friends or my family to see my grandma for her 95th birthday," said Diego Perez Munoz, a San Jose teen.
The vaccination nights come with plenty of perks, including Levi's Stadium locker room tours, 49ers swag, and a virtual escape room. Teens participating will also get free gift cards to Chipotle and Starbucks.
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Meanwhile, 16-year-old Yoketzeen Lopez wonders whether the freebies will be enough for her peers to get vaccinated.
"In Gilroy, we have one of the worst infection rates in the county, and not enough young people are getting the vaccine, and that's because there's a lot of misinformation that parents have heard," Lopez said.
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Teen leaders are now turning to TikTok, Instagram and Twitter to share their vaccination shot experiences and remind other students the vaccine is safe.
Health leaders on Monday also reminded that if 16- or 17-year-olds show up for the teen vaccination night on Tuesday, they do not need a parent with them but do need a consent form signed by a parent.
For more information, visit Santa Clara County Public Health's coronavirus page.
