Parents of toddlers face struggles as they wait for vaccine authorization

Children under 5 years old still cannot get the COVID-19 vaccine.

For many parents of unvaccinated toddlers in the U.S., a return to normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic seems out of reach.

Many have been forced to take time off work or change their schedules to provide care for their children due to school shutdowns. Rebecca Sanghvi, a public school teacher in Washington, D.C., has a 5-year-old daughter, who is vaccinated, in kindergarten and a 2-year-old son in daycare.

Working from home is not possible for her, so she juggles the house responsibilities with her husband, who's able to shift remotely when needed. She said it's been exhausting to cope with the pandemic while balancing her job and parenting responsibilities.

"I do think that there's not enough attention on the difficulties that the families who can't do that are facing with kids being quarantined, taking time off work, often unpaid," Sanghvi said.