PASADENA, Calif. — People as young as 12 years old are lining up across the Southland to get vaccinated as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges more adolescents to become inoculated.

The City of Pasadena collaborated with First Baptist Church to host a vaccination clinic for young residents.

Judah Alvardo, 13, received his second shot, so he can return to the places he likes the most.

“School and the church can’t open until everyone is vaccinated, so that’s one of the reasons,” Alvaro said.

The clinic is open on a day the CDC announced troubling data about hospitalizations of adolescents with COVID-19.

Judah’s friend Zion Nobles also got his second shot. He wanted to be fully vaccinated to get back to school.

“Online learning is a lot harder than normal learning because it’s not like hands on, so the faster we get back to normal the better,” Nobles said.

His mom Mary Nobles was by his side, but she was not always on board with her son being vaccinated.

“Back in the days when they were giving the syphilis shots to the African Americans, it just took me back there and I was worried about my son because he is African American and a young man,” Mary Nobles said. “I didn’t want him having complications. I thought it would make him go sterile, but I had to do my research, so he got the first shot and I was relieved and now I’m fully relieved because he’s fully vaccinated. And thank you Jesus for it.”

The City of Pasadena will continue to host vaccination clinics around town.