In a press release issued Tuesday by the Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, Elmo Louis’ father – also a muppet – shared his questions about the Covid-19 vaccine for children under 5. Elmo is 3 and a half years old.
Was it safe? Was it the right decision? ”I talked to our pediatrician so I could make the right choice,” Louis told PSA. “I learned that vaccinating Elmo is the best way to keep ourselves, our friends, neighbors and everyone else healthy and enjoy the things they love.”
Vaccines against Covid-19 are now available for children under 5, and parents may have some questions, said Janet Betancourt, senior vice president of social affairs in the United States at Sesame Workshop.
“We hope that Louis and Elmo will inspire parents and carers across the country to talk to their healthcare providers and seek information to learn how COVID-19 vaccines can keep young children and their families healthy.” Betancourt said in an email.
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines to include children 6 months of age earlier in June. The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Valensky, signed the Covid-19 vaccinations for children under 5 on June 17 after CDC vaccine advisers voted unanimously the same day to recommend the use of Covid-19 vaccinations. for children under 5 years of age .Although these vaccines are already available, some parents are reluctant to vaccinate their children immediately. Only 18% of parents of children under 5 said they would vaccinate their child for Covid-19 as soon as the vaccine was available, according to a study by the April Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor. And 38% of parents surveyed said they would “wait and see” before vaccinating their young children.
“Nearly 5.7 million cases of children with COVID-19 have been reported nationally in 2022 alone, making vaccination an important step in protecting both children and their families against the highly contagious virus and its variants,” the statement said. from Ad Council and Sesame Workshop I said.
As of June 22, nearly 30 percent of children ages 5 to 11 and nearly 60 percent of children ages 12 to 17 had been fully vaccinated for Covid-19, according to the CDC.
The two children of CNN medical analyst Dr. Liana Wen – aged 2 and 4 – received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, June 27. While Wen was eager to vaccinate her children, she knew a lot of parents were on the fence.
“We have to respect that people have questions, and this video confirms that parents want to do the right thing for our children and encourages them to seek information from a trusted source – their pediatrician,” Wen said in an email.
PSA is both a “beautiful” example of modeling healthy behavior and a way to help people realize that it’s good to have questions about the vaccine, said Dr. Neha Chaudhary, a child psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. and Chief Medical Officer of BeMe Health.
“I guess there will be children and parents who will watch this and feel that they too can ask these questions, deal with them and move on and get the COVID-19 vaccine if the doctor gives them permission. Chaudhary said in an email
Children form strong bonds with their favorite media characters, so it can be helpful for children to learn by watching a “friend” go through something new and potentially scary, said Dr. Jenny Radeschi, an associate professor of pediatrics at CS Mott in University of Michigan Children’s Hospital.
“It’s natural for a vaccine to stress both children and their parents,” Radeski said in an email. “I appreciate when media creators skillfully put pearls of knowledge in their stories that help families cope.”
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