First in line for preschool COVID shots

Mom of 2-year-old, first up for vaccine: ‘Very brave.’ Plus, murals for three new neighborhoods. Fiddlers’ Gathering ready for No. 50. Sen. Young on his gun bill vote. And Jaden Ivey, No. 5 to Detroit

Thanks today for the ongoing support from sponsor Barash Law, which helped make this edition of the Based in Lafayette reporting project possible.

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TIPPECANOE COUNTY’S FIRST COVID SHOTS FOR PRESCHOOLERS

Jessica Hinman, a West Lafayette mom of two young girls, didn’t intend for her 2-year-old daughter Julia to be the first in Tippecanoe County to get COVID vaccines approved late last week for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old.

But in the past week, Hinman said she’d been hitting up the state’s 211 number and calling pharmacies, pediatricians and clinics to get the latest on who might have doses of the Moderna vaccine for her daughters, as soon as possible.

Jessica Hinman, with her daughters, Rory, left, and Julia. (Photo via Dr. Greg Loomis)

Which had her waiting at the door when the vaccine clinic opened at noon Thursday at the Tippecanoe County Health Department, on the first day the county offered the shots for an age bracket that had gone unvaccinated more than a year-and-a-half since the first COVID shots were administered to older people.