Just in time for the new school year, COVID vaccines are finally available to nearly 20 million children under the age of five in the United States – the last of the population waiting to be protected from the disease – after a four-month delay that put anxious parents through hell, to put it mildly.
But even now, despite mostly gratitude and excitement, many caregivers can’t help but feel frustrated with how it all fell apart.
“I am definitely excited and plan to vaccinate my children as soon as possible, [but] I’m still discouraged that it’s coming so late, “said Kathleen Koda, a mother of a 1- and 3-year-old, in an email. “It reopens the world and makes people less resentful of anyone who decides to move forward and stop taking precautions before our children can be protected.”
The Pfizer vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years was expected to be approved in February, but the FDA drastically changed its plans. The agency wanted to gather more data on the effectiveness of injections after clinical trials showed that two doses did not offer adequate protection in children aged 2 to 4 years (although they did in babies aged 6 months to 1 year).
Two months later, in April, Moderna sought authorization for its vaccine for children under 6 after a clinical trial found the vaccine to be safe and effective. But it wasn’t until June 15 that the FDA met to review the data for both photos.
Both the FDA and the CDC agreed that it would be most logical to wait until Pfizer released its third-dose data, which it did in late May, and conduct a joint review, deciding to extend the eligibility for children under 5 to both vaccines. at the same time. On June 18, the CDC approved the FDA’s decision, which came nearly eight months after the first vaccine was approved for children between the ages of 5 and 11.
It was during this period of uncertainty that what Koda feared most came true. Her 1-year-old son, who underwent open heart surgery to remove the defect at 6 weeks, became infected with COVID along with his parents.
“Overall, I just felt failed by the general public and government agencies, who recommended ending mandates for masks and other precautions before vaccines became available to our children,” Koda said. “And to have [my kids] find out before [the vaccines] became available was just a kick in the pants. “
For many caregivers in the United States, the first country in the world to offer COVID vaccines to children as young as 6 months old, the green light to vaccinate their babies and young children means they will no longer have to depend on others. for the safety of your children.
“For so long, I’ve just had to take calculated risks and make decisions about how social we can be, who we can spend time with, and practice radically accepting many, many people in my life who choose not to get vaccinated.” said Gretchen, a mother of 1-year-old twins who prefer to use only their own name. “At least now I can vaccinate my children and have this protection for them, which does not depend on anyone else,” she told BuzzFeed News in an email.
The introduction of the vaccine makes unstable first steps
The introduction of vaccines for children under 5 will not look like those for older children and adults, according to Dr. Ashish Ja, COVID’s White House Response Coordinator.
Instead of mass vaccination sites, other more familiar places such as doctors’ offices, health clinics, pharmacies and children’s hospitals will administer most vaccines because parents prefer it, Ja wrote on Twitter.
“We want to build a response and availability system that meets the needs and wants of parents,” he said, adding that we will see more vaccines and appointments open as sites receive their first orders, which were last sent. week.
But impatient caregivers are already facing problems, an early sign that they say reveals poor planning by the government.
Lauren Thompson told us she called the local health department in Virginia last week to find out if her county would have vaccines for children under 5 as soon as they became available. She was told she was “waiting to see if there was a demand” for the photos before ordering them. Thompson’s pediatrician then told her that their office was “interested” in the vaccine, but would not have it when it was first available.
“It’s really annoying that I had to call so many places to see what their plans were for distribution. We have known about this for a very long time and it is clear that there is no plan for families like mine, “Thompson wrote in an email. “Families with little ones were largely ignored, and that was no different.”
Thompson said he was vying to vaccinate his 3-year-old before starting this upcoming school year. She managed to arrange a vaccination meeting in Walgreens, but said she would travel to a neighboring county, which confirmed that she offered the vaccines at a government-run center – a trip she admits is not something everyone has enough privilege to do.
“I’m grateful to have access to a PTO as well as a car so I can travel there,” she said. “Why wasn’t there a solid distribution plan ?? Why is everything so unfair? “
During a press conference on June 8, government officials said they estimated that about 85% of children under the age of 5 live within 5 miles of a potential vaccination site.
You can find nearby suppliers who have vaccines in stock at vaccines.gov.
Experts insist on vaccination with the development of the coronavirus
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 2.5 million children under the age of 5 have become infected with COVID, according to the latest CDC data.
COVID has become the fourth leading cause of death among infants and the fifth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4 in the United States. More than 200 children in this age group have died from the disease, according to death certificates as of May 11.
COVID also caused more deaths in the United States each year in this age group than other infectious diseases before vaccines became available to them, including those caused by meningococcal bacteria and viruses such as hepatitis A, chickenpox, rubella and rotavirus.
Infections in this age group increased in January, when the more contagious version of omicron prevailed. However, this is the next option that doctors are worried about. That’s why they say children under 5 should still be vaccinated, even if they have already had COVID: this may offer protection against future options.
“Vaccination after COVID-19 will give your child the best protection against new variants of the virus,” wrote Dr. Diego Hijano, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “If a child – or someone – gets COVID-19, there is no way to predict whether it will be a mild or severe infection, and the treatment options for COVID-19 in young children are limited.
Studies show that “hybrid immunity” (previous infection plus vaccine) offers better protection for children than just having one or the other. Meanwhile, vaccines can produce antibodies that are more effective against all known variants of coronavirus than infection alone.
“Keep in mind that the virus continues to change,” Hijano said. “The body’s defenses after receiving the virus are not as protective against re-infection as the virus changes.
Even healthy children are at risk of serious illness, the data show. About half of the children under 5 years of age who have been hospitalized with COVID so far have not had major medical conditions.
“Children can get sick from COVID, they can get sick from it, and they can die from it,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Maine, wrote on Twitter. “It’s important to remember that children don’t have to be in the hospital or die. And that’s because of the vaccines. “
Not to mention that vaccination can prevent infection and therefore the risks of developing prolonged COVID.
In February, Marisa Burgo told us that parents like her had had a “vaccine hanging from them” for too long. Now, for the first time, she can safely experience activities with her one-year-old that are usually considered everyday.
“For our family, the vaccine means swimming lessons, time for a small child in the library, going to friends’ houses and back on a plane after the mask mandate was revoked, among other things,” Burgo said in an email after permission. “It means feeling safe at my niece’s bat mitzvah in the fall, where our large extended family will gather indoors. That means many, many long-awaited first things for our baby and for us as a family. “
What we need to know about COVID vaccines for babies and young children
The Pfizer vaccine
This vaccine is a three-dose series for children under 5 years of age. The first two vaccines are given three to eight weeks apart. Then the children will have to wait at least two months before receiving their third.
Booster doses are not yet permitted for this age group. At that time, only people aged 5 and over should receive a booster, says the CDC.
And yes, children can get their COVID vaccines at the same time as other vaccinations.
The Pfizer vaccine series was approximately 80% effective in the clinical trial, but this was based on only 10 cases of COVID that occurred during the study period. However, health officials said there was ample evidence that a third dose offered sufficient protection to prevent serious illness.
Fever, decreased appetite, drowsiness and irritability are the most common side effects of the vaccine in children from 6 months to 1 year. Fever, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, chills, and new or worsening muscle or joint pain can occur in children aged 2 to 4 years.
All symptoms usually resolve within one to two days.
The Moderna vaccine
This vaccine is a series of two doses, with injections given one month apart.
It is 51% effective in children from 6 months to 1 year and 37% effective in children between 2 and 5 years. The level of protection that this vaccine offers to children against the omicron variant is similar to that of adults who received the Moderna vaccine.
The side effects are similar to …
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