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As a pediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr. Amy Edwards has answered many questions from concerned parents during the pandemic. As the number of cases declines, among children, Covid-19 cases have dropped to levels. that have not been registered since October, the question that he hears the most is: is it necessary to vaccinate younger children against covid-19 when the vaccine is available?
Your answer is yes.
Experts say that vaccinating minors is an integral part of protecting the wider community against COVID-19, and while serious illness among children is rare, they too need protection.
A CDC study released Friday details the "worrying" recent data surrounding COVID-19 hospitalizations among teens, and urges continued prevention measures.
"The truth is, minors wouldn't have to get vaccinated if all adults did," said Edwards, who is the associate medical director for Pediatric Infection Control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
“I think then there would be so little spread in the community that it wouldn't be a problem.
However, we know that a large part of adults are not going to be vaccinated, and that leaves some children vulnerable, and that is why they need the vaccine.
There are currently 12 states in which at least 70% of adults have at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine.
It is not clear if or when the United States will achieve herd immunity, but doctors say that children, and not just adults, will have a role to play in achieving it.
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"We really need to add another group of children who get vaccinated to reach that threshold and achieve herd immunity," said Dr. Claire Boogaard, pediatrician and medical director of the COVID-19 vaccine program at Children's National.
Everyone has the right to ask questions and "be thoughtful about this, especially when it comes to children," Boogaard said.
“I am a mother of two children, ages three and six, and frankly, knowing how devastating the disease can be from a medical point of view, and also how socially disruptive it can be for children, I cannot wait for my children to receive the vaccine, as long as it is shown to be safe in their age group.
I think it gives them the freedom they have been patiently waiting for.
They may not have to wait much longer
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already licensed Pfizer's vaccine for people 12 years of age and older.
Moderna and Pfizer have begun testing the vaccines in people 6 months to 11 years of age, and Johnson & Johnson is currently testing its single-dose vaccine in people 12 to 17 years of age.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday on CNN's New Day program that he is cautiously optimistic that some people under the age of 12 may be vaccinated by Thanksgiving. and that children of all ages could be eligible by the end of the year.
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More vaccines mean more lives saved
Early research has shown that vaccination among adults could indirectly protect the people in a household.
An unpublished study in May in Finland found that the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provided to unvaccinated members of a household was not as effective as receiving a vaccine, but was "substantial."
A pending study from Israel showed similar results.
Studies show that most young children do not appear to be the source of infection for this new coronavirus.
Rather, when children get sick with COVID-19, they usually do so after being exposed to an adult with the virus.
While the question about the importance of vaccines for young children remains theoretical, it is important to answer it, said Dr. Sean O'Leary, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado.
They ask him about it at least twice a day, and he noted that he answers parents that he wants everyone to be vaccinated, regardless of whether the number of cases decreases.
States that are well below the vaccination of 70% of adults are "easy prey" for a new outbreak, warns an expert
Vaccination is good for eligible children, it is good for the community, and according to him, the numbers are dropping because vaccines work.
"The more people we can vaccinate, the more lives we are going to save," O'Leary said.
"That includes children."
Infant deaths from any cause are rare, but COVID-19 is now among the top, O'Leary said: 'If you can prevent one of those causes of death with something as simple as a vaccine, obviously it's something that can be prevented. will want to do ”.
And there are practical reasons to vaccinate children.
Current guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that people exposed to COVID-19 who are not vaccinated should stay home and not go to school. or to camp for two weeks.
If they are vaccinated, children do not need to be quarantined.
Covid-19 can be serious in children
Covid-19 is more likely to be more serious in adults, but children can also become seriously ill, and some have died.
During a COVID-19 briefing at the White House on Thursday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted that in the month before Pfizer's vaccine was licensed for people up to 12 years old, the agency observed "worrying data" on adolescents hospitalized with severe COVID-19.
The data, released this Friday, shows that, after initially declining in early 2021, adolescent hospitalization rates for COVID-19 increased between March and April. The increase may have been related to the most communicable coronavirus variants, large numbers of children returning to school and other indoor activities, and changes in prevention behaviors, the researchers wrote. The study looked at the period before the vaccine was licensed for people up to 12 years old in May.
"More worrisome," Walensky said, was the number of adolescents admitted to the hospital who required intensive care unit treatment with mechanical ventilation: among the 204 adolescents hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 from January 1 to March 31, 2021 , 31.4% were admitted to an intensive care unit and 4.9% required invasive mechanical ventilation.
There were no associated deaths, the new study said.
"The findings in this publication, which demonstrate the level of serious disease, even among young people and that it is preventable, are compelling us to redouble our motivation for our teens and young adults to get vaccinated," Walensky said Thursday.
Although cases across the country have generally declined, the pandemic is not over yet.
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“I have seen children in the intensive care unit with respirators for a month or more.
Do you know how bad that is for your lungs?
It's incredibly damaging, ”Edwards said.
He has also seen children at his hospital's long-stay COVID-19 clinics.
“I have children who did not finish their school year, not because they could not with distance education, but because they could not get out of bed with it.
It's bad".
Boogaard said that when you think of children and the vaccine, you think of all the sacrifices they have made in the last year.
“Essentially, children have interrupted their entire lives to protect the elders in their lives and in their communities and it has not been easy for them.
Many have had a hard time, "said Boogaard.
"It's kind of unpleasant that they are the last to have a chance to remove their mask and eat inside and things like that."
"So if getting vaccinated can help them feel more confident and get back to doing the things they like, I would say that you have to take that into account when making the decision and vaccinating them."
Child welfare Herd immunityvaccine against covid-19