BELLEVUE, Wash. — "Worth a Shot," a group led by youth in western Washington, has been educating people about the COVID-19 vaccine since November. The group now faces one of its biggest tasks, encouraging their peers to get the vaccine.
Mehr Grewal, 14, created the initiative Worth a Shot last year. The group has been hosting townhalls with doctors and helping adults schedule their vaccine appointments with a focus on equity.
"This is really an effort to bridge the gap between the public and science," said Grewal.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone 12 and older Wednesday following recommendations that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is safe and extremely effective for 12 to 15-year-olds.
Grewal said Worth a Shot is launching a new initiative called "Teen Shield" to encourage kids 12 and older to get vaccinated.
"It's named for the fact that we're kind of creating a shield of young people. Young people who are protecting their family members, their loved ones, their friends. We're building this wall against COVID and really helping in the fight," said Grewal.
The state estimated there are 350,000 people in Washington ages 12 to 15.
Grewal said Teen Shield will use teen's stories and social media to get the word out about the vaccine. She also knows there's education that can be done as she's heard some kids are worried trials were too quick or too small.
"What we really want to show youth is that we do have this light at the end of the tunnel," said Grewal.
Grewal is choosing to lead by example. She scheduled her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine for Thursday.