As we reported, covid vaccines
for children under five could be
available as early as next week
now that the fda has given its
stamp of approval.
Many parents and caregivers of
the youngest have long awaited
this and argue they have had to
wait too long.
But even so, there are big
questions about how widely the
vaccines will be taken up.
William brangham has the latest.
William: That fda committee
unanimously approved kids'
vaccines from both madrona and
pfizer today.
Pfizer's is given in three
shots, moderna's in two - and at
slightly different dosages.
There are approximately 18
million kids in this age group
who would be eligible to get the
shots.
For some insight into this
moment, I'm joined by Dr. Andrea
Singh.
She's the chief of pediatrics at
park nicollet clinics and
hospital in Minnesota.
Welcome to the newshour.
Could I get your reaction to
today's development?
>> I am very excited.
As you said, there have been 18
million children in our country
that have not had the option of
a vaccine.
This unanimous approval is
exciting news for a lot of
parents.
William: Do you feel confident
the safety data is clear for
both vaccines, that this is the
right call for kids?
>> I am very confident.
It meant a lot there was a
unanimous vote of confidence in
the data submitted thus far.
As always we have to continue to
look at the data as more kids
get the vaccine and make sure
what we see in this initial
sample size is holding true.
I feel comfortable offering this
vaccine to my patients and
family members that have not had
this option yet.
William: What about choosing
which vaccine?
Does it matter, moderna versus
pfizer?
Does the two verses three shock
factor into your
recommendations?
>> It's a good question.
These vaccines were not studied
head-to-head so you can't make a
direct comparison.
I think some families will
choose to do the two dose series
of modern, which is a higher
strength.
Their families will choose to go
with pfizer, which is a lower
dose, but three vaccines kind of
spread out.
William: I'm sure there is a
slice of parents calling your
office to make appointments as
quickly as possible to get their
children vaccinated, but not
everyone is as eager.
How do you talk with a parent
who is more in the camp of wait
and see, not sure I am going to
do this yet?
>> It's a super important
conversation and I encourage
parents if you are sitting on
the fence, make that appointment
with your health care provider
so you can have that discussion
because it is important to talk
through it with a professional
that knows no science and
background and your own child's
personal history.
He showed set of families were
calling right away to get the
vaccine as soon as it was
approved by 38% were in the cap
you are describing and the rest
said, not for us.
I have been talking with my
families of younger children for
months, even years about the
pros and cons of a potential
vaccine for this age group.
One thing that is super
important to call out is there
is a misconception that covid
isn't dangerous for children.
A lot of kids have had it and
have been fine so they don't
need the vaccine.
The data shows while only 3% of
covid cases have been in this
young child age group, those
kids tend to get more serious
complications, hospitalizations,
and long-term issues.
It is really important to
vulnerable groups.
William: What if a parent says,
my kid recently had covid and
have gotten over it so don't
they have protection and don't
need the shot?
>> Everybody's body does mount
some immune response after a
covid infection.
The length of how long the
immunity lasts varies from
person to person.
We in the medical community
recommend getting the vaccine
series started even if you have
had an infection.
William: What about this other
risk some people might have
heard about, particularly with
males, the heart condition
myocarditis?
Does the data indicate that is
an issue with the vaccine for
kids?
>> It is an important topic they
discussed in the review of the
data.
Fortunately there were not cases
of myocarditis in these studies
that have been done.
It is something we have to watch
closely.
What we can extrapolate from the
older kids that have gotten
myocarditis related to the
vaccine is you are five to 10
times more likely to get
myocarditis from covid illness
than from the vaccine.
When we hear this stuff, it's
super scary.
We only want to do the right
things for our kids.
It's important to put the
information into context.
Viruses cause myocarditis.
That is well known in the
pediatric medical community.
Obviously we don't want to be
the ones inducing it.
Fortunately it didn't seem like
that was common in the data that
was studied.
William: Dr. Andrea Singh, thank