Norwich — Parent Fionnuala Darby-Hudgens held her daughter Oonagh’s hand on Saturday as she took her 8-year-old to get vaccinated.

Oonagh found comfort in the therapy dogs spending time with the children at Hartford HealthCare’s regional support office in Norwich on Saturday.

Hartford HealthCare held clinics for 5- to 11-year-olds to receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Hartford, Bridgeport, New Britain, Torrington and Wethersfield on Saturday, in addition to Norwich. The kids will go to the same locations at the same time on Dec. 4 for the second shot.

Darby-Hudgens' desire to get her kids vaccinated came in part from her experience dealing with COVID-19 symptoms a year after contracting the disease. She identified herself as a COVID “long-hauler,” meaning someone whose symptoms haven’t completely dissipated long after they test negative.

Her family — she, her husband and their two daughters, now ages 13 and 8 — got infected last November, after her younger child got infected at school. She also said her husband lost his job in March 2020.

Darby-Hudgens was the most sick and "had tremendous difficulties with breathing," so she started using an inhaler and prescription medication.

"By summertime, I was feeling much better, and then almost like the first day of cold weather this year, every single breathing symptom I had, like shortness of breath running up and down the stairs, has returned," she said, "and so it’s clear that I am not fully recovered."

Darby-Hudgens, her husband and their older daughter are all vaccinated. When her second grader became eligible, she immediately called the pediatrician's office the next morning, but found it wasn't offering the vaccine for younger children yet. She saw a friend post that Hartford HealthCare was doing clinics on Saturday, including one in Norwich, where the family lives.

Darby-Hudgens said she thinks people should get vaccinated for two reasons.

“To put your misconceptions and fear above the needs of the greater good is tremendously selfish. I think we as people have a civic obligation to protect each other,” she said Saturday. “We do this every day. We vaccinate children against mumps, measles, but for some reason we are unable to do this in the face of a global pandemic where 700,000 people have died (in the United States). The second obligation is we do not know the long-term impacts of COVID-19. Here we are a year later, and I still have shortness of breath.”

As of Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 759,552 coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S.; globally, nearly 5.1 million deaths have been linked to COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization.

Hartford HealthCare Clinical Services Coordinator Jonathan Chew, who was in charge of logistics in Norwich, said he was expecting more than 400 children to get vaccinated Saturday, but the clinic could accommodate up to 500 and would accept walk-ins. He said there were about 16 staff members there on Saturday, serving in intake, vaccine administration and other roles.

In one large room, families came in, checked in, were given a shot, then waited in the observation area for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on whether the children had allergies. Kids could watch movies, eat snacks and pet the therapy dogs.

Ashley Stevens, who was at the clinic on Saturday with her 11-year-old son, said she called Hartford HealthCare as soon as possible when she learned a vaccine had been approved for 5- to 11-year-olds. Her son, who she said has been tough since he was a baby, actually welcomed the shot because he doesn’t want to contract the coronavirus.

Stevens said she felt safer after Saturday.

“That’s why we were so desperately waiting for this moment,” she said. “I have an older daughter, so she got vaccinated, my husband and I are vaccinated, we were waiting so that we could all feel a better sense of security, so we got a little bit more of our superhero armor to combat this.”

Kathrine McCormick of Oakdale said she felt it important that her two kids — Mayson, who is 9, and Layla, who is 7 — get vaccinated in order to help stop the spread of the virus.

“I work with immunocompromised people every day, so if me and my family can do our part to try and protect others, we will,” she said Saturday.

As for whether she was counting down the days until the vaccine was available for children, as other parents said they were, she said, “I don’t know if I’d say I was looking forward to it; I was on the fence a little bit about whether I was going to vaccinate. But once I did the research and really thought about it ... There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s just whatever’s best for your family. If you choose not to, then that’s OK.”

Many of the children at the clinic were nervous to get their shot, but not J.J. Brooks’ kids. He said his three sons wanted to be vaccinated.

“They want to get rid of the masks and be able to get back to somewhat normal. They kept asking, ‘Is the kids’ one out yet?’” Brooks said. “My mom’s in her 70s and every time she’d come around the kids, she’d be wearing two masks even though she’s vaccinated. It won’t be fully normal, but we can be comfortable around each other again.”

At a news briefing on Thursday regarding Saturday’s clinics, Eric Arlia, the senior director of pharmacy for Hartford HealthCare, said 2,200 children were expected to receive the vaccine Saturday.

“We picked this weekend intentionally because it sort of circumvents Thanksgiving weekend,” Arlia said Thursday. “The kids who come on Saturday will be due for dose two on December 4th, which is the weekend after Thanksgiving, so the family can enjoy a holiday weekend without having to come back to the clinic, but also getting dose two on the 4th of December should mean that they have full immunity built up in time for Christmas.”

s.spinella@theday.com