ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County leaders announced Monday that for the first time, an infant was among the 56 people who died of COVID-19 in the county since last Thursday. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Orange County officials reported 56 people died of COVID-19 in the county since Thursday

  •  One of the deaths was a child less than a year old

  • Many Central Florida parents are concerned for their children's safety, especially those not yet eligible for a COVID vaccine

The death is concerning for parents of kids 11 and younger who currently don’t have an option to vaccinate their kids, because there’s no approved vaccine available for that age group. But experts say that could change in a few weeks. 

Nikki Brooke said she can’t help but think about another family who’s dealing with the loss of child who wasn’t even a year old.

“It’s just horrifying, I can’t even imagine what those parents went through not knowing," she said. "I mean that’s just a moment when you ask why — why do things like this happen."

And the risks in Brooke's household are high — her 8-year-old daughter Raelin goes to one school and she teaches at another elementary school. They've tried to reduce the risk of catching COVID-19 as much as they can by doing things like masking up. But despite that — and both mom and dad getting vaccinated — about a month ago they all caught COVID-19.

“Our whole life just stopped,” said Brooke.

Luckily none of them got seriously sick.

“We were very fortunate that she was OK, but our biggest fear was, because she wasn’t vaccinated, what kind of symptoms she would have or how quickly she would recover,” said Brooke.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Michael Muszynski said the FDA could approve a Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds by November. Until then, he says unvaccinated children are vulnerable.

“They get sicker less often and more severely ill less often and die less often, but nonetheless, they get sick," he said. "They get severely ill and they die — so there’s no way to predict which child will be one of those — it will just happen."

The Brooke family won’t be taking any chances.

“A lot of kids usually come out of it really well, but there’s always those real small chances and I’d rather be safe — so as soon as that vaccine is ready she’s going to get it,” said Brooke.

There’s already an approved Pfizer vaccine available for kids 12 and older. 

The Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year olds is in clinical trials. There are also clinical trials underway for a vaccine for kids younger than five, but Muszynski says that will likely not be approved for use until sometime in 2022.