CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - After the CDC approved the COVID-19 vaccine for children in the 5-11 age range earlier this week, health departments like Champaign-Urbana started making appointments available for the community.

Deputy Administrator for the Champaign Urbana Public Health District Awais Vaid said leaders are excited to see a vulnerable population now able to protect themselves.

"Until now, you know, the big group was the kids who were not eligible. We are really happy right now that the (5-11 age range is) eligible for it," Vaid said. "That means about 16,000 kids in Champaign County become eligible immediately. So we hope that people get these vaccines as soon as possible so that the transmission that we are seeing a lot in the kids right now, we will start to see a decline in that going forward."

Many parents were eager to get their children vaccinated. The department had a thousand appointments available this week. All of them were full within 2 1/2 hours. 

Angie Price, mom of an eight and eleven-year-old, was one of those eager parents.

"We've been waiting for this day for nearly a year and a half. We want to protect our family and those we love and then protect others that we don't even know," Price said. 

Since getting a shot can be scary for kids, the health department made sure to create a fun environment for them.

"We have some fun activities out here. We have a therapy dog by the police department, and we also have our administrator who's dressed up as a snail out here and so that also cheers up the kids a little bit," said Vaid.

The department said more appointments will be made available in the coming weeks. Anyone interested in getting their child vaccinated can check their website for those details.