NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico kids have a lot of questions about the coronavirus, the vaccine, and when their lives might be getting back to normal. And who better to answer those questions than Dr. Anthony Fauci? The kids say after their 20-minute interview with Dr. Fauci, he eased a lot of their fears about COVID-19.
This month, 12 New Mexico kids got their COVID questions answered by a very reliable source. “I mean it’s Fauci! He’s awesome,” says 13-year-old Thaniel Lentz.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Anthony Fauci spent 20 minutes being interviewed for a nationally-syndicated public radio show and podcast, The Children’s Hour. “It can be a serious disease and we don’t want you to be worried about it or scared about it,” Fauci says.
Producer Katie Stone’s group ‘the Kids Crew’ puts together the weekly children’s show that airs nationally. She says for the interview with Dr. Fauci, the kids came up with the questions all on their own. “Usually because it’s adults asking the questions, it’s all these things that adults want to know about but kids never really get the chance to ask questions that matter to them: when will we go back to school? When will I see my friends again? When will I be able to see my grandparents,” says 11-year-old Lucas Griego.
The kids describe Dr. Fauci as a grandfather figure who put their minds at ease. “It just really made me a lot more hopeful and a lot less scared,” Lentz says.
And Stone hopes the episode will provide the same comfort to all the children who tune in. “I think it’s really important that we remember that kids need that comfort and they need to feel like things are going to be okay,” Stone says.
The kids also interviewed New Mexico’s Public education secretary Ryan Stewart. The hour-long show will air Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. on public radio stations like KUNM and live-streamed on the Children’s Hour website. The program will be available in a podcast on Sunday.
