attend school before the end of september. mariana has a 12-year-old sister who also hadn t gotten her vaccine. her mother angel was here at this hospital, but drove this past friday more than two hours to take her younger daughter to get her vaccination. gary tuchman, cnn, st. louis, missouri. thanks to gary. really important story. we ll be right back. you re watching cnn. things you start when you re 45. coaching. new workouts.
welcome back. i m robyn curnow, live, in atlanta. now, the u.s. surgeon general says covid vaccines for children, under the age of 12, could be available by the end of the year. but already, more vulnerable children are heading back to school, as the rate of even partial vaccination for teens in the u.s. lags behind adults. and more of the young are getting sick and going to hospital. as gary tuchman reports. knock, knock. reporter: a children s hospital in missouri. and sitting on the couch is angel baker, a mother who has gone through a horrifying week. her 14-year-old daughter, mariana, tested positive for covid, got very sick, and was put on oxygen for five days. angel says her daughter has received excellent treatment here at the cardinal glen children s hospital in st. louis. might make you cough but that s what we want. that was a good one. ope. i warned ya. good job. reporter: mariana and her
family, one child at a time. gary tuchman has more. reporter: a children s hospital in missouri and sitting on the couch is angel baker, a mother who has gone through a horrifying week. her 14-year-old daughter mar yawna tested positive for covid, got very sick and was put on oxygen for five days. angel says her daughter has received excellent treatment here at the cardinal glen children s hospital in st. louis. might make you cough but that s what we want. that was a good one. i warned you. good job. reporter: mariana and her mother live about 150 miles away in southern missouri. she started feeling ill at home. it quickly got worse. i was pancaking. monday, august 2nd i decided to take her to urgent care because she told me she couldn t breathe. reporter: the decision was made for mariana to be transported by ambulance to this children s hospital.
reporter: mariana and her mother live in southern missouri and she started feeling ill the at home and it quickly got worse. monday august 2, i decided to take her to urgent care because she told me she couldn t breathe. reporter: the decision was made for mariana to be transported by ambulance to this children s hospital. it was like a nightmare. very scary. when you saw her struggling to breathe with the oxygen, what was going through your mind? just praying, asking god to bring her back, keep her safe. were you afraid she wasn t going to make it? yes, sir. reporter: the mother received the covid vaccine but her daughter did not. why didn t she get vaccinated? i don t know. i left it up to her. and she decided she don t want to get vaccinated. i don t mean to make you feel
members who impose mask man mandates. so the battle over masks is very telling and all of this is while more schools nationwide gear up to reopen. christine and whitney, back to you. a 14-year-old girl in missouri spending five days on oxygen after getting covid. mar mariannahad early symptoms like headache and fatigue and then one day she couldn t breathe. gary tuchman has the story. knock, knock. reporter: a children s hospital in missouri, and sitting on the couch is angel baker, a mother who has gone through a horrifying week. her 14-year-old daughter tested positive for covid, got very sick, and was put on oxygen for five days. angel says her daughter has received excellent treatment here at the cardinal glennon children s hospital in st. louis. might make you cough, but that is what we want. good job.