The decisions regarding vaccination for adults and youth aged 12 and over - it is already clear today - are the ones that led to the decline of the fourth wave and saved many lives.
Along with wearing masks and social alienation, without vaccinating the population and providing the third booster dose, the price of the fourth wave was heavy.
In the last two months most of the people who inhabit the corona wards - most of the patients are severe and most of the dead from the corona - are people who have chosen not to get vaccinated.
But now that this wave is fading, is it really right to vaccinate children? After all, the severity of children's illness is much smaller than that of adults or people with background illnesses and immunosuppression. Is it right to expose children to the dangers inherent in the vaccine? So let's discuss these questions:
Severity of the disease:
In a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, about 11% of children infected with corona suffer from long-term complications (long COVID), which last for weeks to months - difficulty concentrating, brain fogging, taste and smell disorders, difficulty exercising and prolonged fatigue. Among children aged 6-3, 1.8% still suffered from corona symptoms six months after recovery, and among children aged 12-6 - 2.4% suffered from prolonged symptoms. There is probably a significant underdiagnosis of this syndrome, and the true numbers are even higher. In the current wave, with the increase in the ability of children to infect in the variant delta, we have seen more children with multisystem inflammation syndrome (PIMS), a syndrome that appears about two to three weeks after infection in the corona and causes multi-system damage and even death. Some children are left with an irreversible disability.
Vaccine safety: A
lot of information has already been gathered about vaccine safety. Most side effects are expected and include fever, local pain at the injection site, weakness and muscle aches. Significant side effects are very rare, and include allergic reactions and myocarditis, described mainly in boys aged 16 to 29. The vast majority of myocarditis cases were mild and without long-term damage. The rate of severe cases was very rare - standing at 0.34 cases per 100,000 vaccinated. The reports collected worldwide are similar to the data in the country, indicating that the risk of vaccination is much lower than the risk of infection in the corona, even in their children the rate of disease complications is low. Pfizer's preliminary data on the safety of the vaccine in children are excellent, both in terms of efficacy and safety.
Dilution of the epidemic:
Why get vaccinated when the disease is already gone?
So it is, that she does not disappear.
Despite the current decline in morbidity in the country, corona is still very common in the world and the epidemic is not expected to subside in the next two years.
Therefore, the "variant industry" continues, and a particularly contagious variant may be formed in children, causing more severe disease.
It is not advisable to reach this moment without means of protection.
Immunization can be likened to a high wall that separates us from the virus.
The lower the wall, the higher the chance of the virus jumping over it.
The children's vaccine raises the wall significantly, both in the personal protection of the child from corona complications, and in the general protection of the rest of the household.
I will make my final decision on child immunization recommendations only after seeing all the material presented to the FDA, but I have no doubt that at the end of the day - whether through a Pfizer vaccine or another company's vaccine - this will be the only way to protect our children from This violent virus.
Do not let the raging Pike News determine your decision.