Anson Dressler, 14, shows off his Band-Aid after receiving his first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center in Mission on Saturday, May 15, 2021.

MISSION — Harley Gone rolled up his sleeve and closed his eyes as pharmacist Angie Dearing gently slid a needle into his left arm and administered his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center on Saturday, May 15.

“It wasn’t too bad,” the 12-year-old said after reopening his eyes.

Gone was the last member of his family to be vaccinated; his father, Julian Gone Jr., and his father’s girlfriend had received their shots earlier and were anxiously awaiting the opportunity for one to be available to Harley.

“There’s only three of us in our family and while my girlfriend and I have been vaccinated for a while, he was the only one that didn’t,” said Julian Gone Jr. “I think he’s kind of glad too. He didn’t seem displeased and he was all game for getting the shot.”

Julian Gone Jr. added that his family has been pretty careful about COVID-19 and Harley has limited his activities to school and hanging out with his brother when he visits.

“It’s great to get to hear them laugh,” said Julian. “He’s really cautious about COVID.”

Despite loosening restrictions, the Gone family has pretty much kept to themselves, Julian Gone said, adding he thinks they will be more comfortable once everyone is vaccinated.

“We’re kind of thinking, ‘I’ll relax when everyone is vaccinated,’” he said, adding he was considered high risk.

When asked why he wanted to get the vaccine, Harley said he wanted to get it to keep his family safe, a trend that Yellowhawk’s acting mental health manager and lead mental health school-based clinician, Cindy Cecil, said is common among teenagers.

“I think that with what I’ve seen in the schools most of the kids are like, ‘You know what, this is something that I’m not necessarily doing for me — because I have a strong immune system — this is something I’m doing for my family, for my elders,’” she said.

Cecil went on to explain that she’s seen a mix of interest in the vaccine in children, even in her own kids. She said many kids have parents who have been vaccinated and are awaiting the opportunity themselves, while others are anxious.

“I think this has been something that kiddos have been waiting for,” she said. “Just like with any population some kids are anxious, some kids aren’t — some are excited, some aren’t.”

Dr. James Winde, a family medicine doctor at Yellowhawk, added that those who came in for their vaccine seemed excited about the opportunity and came ready with lots of questions.

“The kids are kind of excited,” he said. “I think this age group has suffered probably, emotionally, a lot more than the other groups.”

Winde said getting vaccines to kids would help aid the emotional toll of the pandemic and credited the quick response time from the CTUIR with helping to get a vaccination event set up for teenagers less than a week after the vaccine was approved for use in children ages 12 and up.

The weekend clinic was open to anyone ages 12 or older who is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation or works for a CTUIR entity. Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center Human Resources Director Aaron Hines said roughly 60 people signed up for the clinic in advance.

For the Dressler family, 14-year-old Anson Dressler’s vaccination marked one step closer to the family being fully vaccinated, with only Dressler’s younger brother still intelligible for the vaccine. While Dressler was excited to receive his vaccination, he said he was a bit nervous going into it.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I thought it was going to hurt worse than it did, but it was good.”

For Dressler’s mother, Dusty Dressler, the vaccine is an opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief to know one more member of her family is vaccinated. Dusty Dressler, who works as a dietician at Yellowhawk, said she got her son signed up as soon as Yellowhawk announced availability.

“We feel like it’s important for the community,” she said. “His dad and I both work in health care, so we feel it’s important for our family and for the community.”