Now that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children 12 years of age or older, vaccination is no longer just speculation for many parents, and many mothers and fathers are hesitant to see their young children roll up, now or in a survey, only 30% of parents indicated that they planned to vaccinate their children as soon as the option became available.
For example, HuffPost’s parents spoke to several pediatricians and infectious disease specialists to ask some of the most urgent and non-unusual questions for parents.
“Many parents are concerned that vaccines will be imposed on young people just to help us achieve greater immunity from the population,” said the pediatrician, dr. Kelly Fradin, who runs the popular Instagram Account Council I give to my friends and is responsible for the recent e-book a pandemic,” she told HuffPost.
And yes, experts that immunization during the formative years will play a key role in ending the pandemic, let us have collective immunity or not.
But young people “will also harvest a lot directly from vaccination,” Fradin said. “We have noticed more COVID-19 deaths in young people than in recent years by influenza. Being hospitalized by COVID-19 or uncommon MIS-C is also a preventing value.
And knowledge of a Pfizer trial in adolescents showed that the vaccine is one hundred percent effective at preventing COVID-19 and is even more effective than in adults.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 3. 85 million young people in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19. Children now account for about a quarter of all new cases in the United States.
“What we’re seeing is that the vast majority of new cases have occurred in young children, so this is a major problem,” dr. Tina Tan, a treating doctor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University. Feinberg School of Medicine.
Vaccinating young people not only protects them against COVID-19, but also prevents transmission “so that we don’t start creating more variants that might not respond to the vaccine,” Tan emphasized.
The Pfizer vaccine has been studied in more than 2,000 adolescents; half won a placebo, while the other party won two doses of the vaccine, the same dose that older teens and adults won. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Academy of Pediatrics reviewed it and gave the go-ahead for adolescent immunization. In other words, this knowledge of the trials has been rigorously reviewed and experts say the vaccine is safe.
Approximately 6% of teens who won the vaccine on the test experienced some “undesirable event, in addition to the expected unusual side effects, and included things like swollen lymph nodes.
In this organization of adverse occasions, there were five serious ones, adding a child who suffered from abdominal pain, constipation and intermittent nerve pain; others reported depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts; Most importantly, none of those serious occasions were found to be similar. to the vaccine itself, and no deaths were reported. Also, no cases of blood clots, severe allergic reactions, or transient facial paralysis called Bell’s palsy have been reported; all have been reported or have been scary in adults.
Researchers also do not believe that vaccinated youth will expand MIS-C, a rare complication that can occur in young people inflamed with COVID-19 weeks after their initial exposure.
“The immune reaction to an herbal disease is a little different from that of a vaccine,” Tan explained.
Teens in the Pfizer clinical trial experienced maximum injection site pain, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, all of which is perfectly consistent with what we know about trials and real-world knowledge in older teens and adults.
“These are the same things that parents probably went through themselves,” dr. Hailey Nelson, a pediatrician with complex care at Valley Children’s Healthcare in California.
“As a parent, my trick is to prepare your son. Like, “Hey, I didn’t feel good after my dose at the moment. That’s why you’re vaccinated,” so your child knows what the benefits are and why they’re going “through this,” Nelson said. “And then plan ahead. I’m in favor of renting a movie. Get them extra ice cream or whatever they want. Give them Tylenol or ibuprofen, and the next day they’ll feel good. “»
Currently, young people are unlikely to go to their pediatrician’s workplace for vaccination, simply because they don’t have the garage amenities for the Pfizer vaccine. It will have to stay at cooler temperatures than Antarctica in winter, which not all medical practices can do. .
“The vaccine for the elderly population ages 12 to 15 is that many giant children’s hospitals administer it,” Tan said. “There are network hospitals that run it. It is administered by all mass vaccination centers in other states. And there are “pharmacies that run it. “
Finding your child on an appointment may require a little study and patience, but the good news is that it shouldn’t be as complicated as it is for adults.
“At this point, vaccines are available,” Nelson said. ” There are vials and doses waiting and ready. Therefore, availability now for teens will be much faster than when everyone is waiting and running through the multi-level system.
In fact, a lot. Because CDC is transparent that other people who are fully vaccinated can “start doing the things you stopped doing because of the pandemic,” the agency’s director said this week.
“Vaccinated young people deserve to be freer to socialize, travel, watch friends, sing in a choir, play high-level sports and return to general generality,” Fradin said. “The young people I know would all take the vaccine instead of continuing to hide, control or isolate themselves after exposure. “
There is no transparent response to this level as to whether schools can legally require eligible students to leave to do so before returning in the fall. Some schools are already indicating that vaccination will be required for students wishing to return for the next educational year.
Each state already requires at least a few vaccines for young people attending public school, but as Kristine Bowman, a law professor at Michigan State University, wrote in a recent article in The Conversation, “the question of whether school districts can go up the list of required vaccines remain open and may vary from state to state. “
At this stage, experts do not know how long immunity lasts after vaccination for adults or young people; the most productive knowledge recommends at least six months.
Researchers are actively reading this consultation and hope to have answers soon, as this will have an absolute effect on young people’s desire to get normal reminders, but there is not enough knowledge at this time to locate it.
“What we hope is that in the fall, for the school year to begin, a vaccine can be obtained for children 6 years and older. But we’re going to have to see how it goes. ” Tan said. “For young people between 6 months and 6 years old, they may not have a vaccine until 2022. “
Pfizer and Moderna are already reading their vaccines in young people under the age of 12, and researchers are reading the dose very carefully. Young people may not want the same dose as teens, older teens and adults.
“Dose-related studies are underway,” Nelson said. “Pfizer went out and said they would be done with them and that the knowledge would be published as early as September. “
Oui. Si you have an older child in your circle of relatives who is vaccinated, this gives more coverage to your younger child (or children). Think of it as a “cocoon strategy,” Tan said, making sure that everyone eligible for vaccination at home, adding adults, reduces the threat of home transmission. This can also replace the way you think and plan things like summer holidays, game dates, and other meetings (and in the end shows why it’s very important to ask friends or the circle of family you plan to interact with or interact with, if they’ve been vaccinated).
“Vaccines to all members of your family who are eligible for vaccination,” Tan said. “So if this child goes on vacation and everyone around him or she who is eligible for the vaccine has won this vaccine, it is much less likely that the child will be exposed and affected through COVID.
Experts are still reporting on COVID-19. The data in this account are what are known or about to be had at the time of publication, however, the instructions would possibly replace scientists as they become more informed about the virus. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the latest recommendations.