Today I'm going to talk about COVID vaccines
and boosters for children.
I'm entitling it "Moving from Good to Great."
My name is Charles Prober
and I'm a pediatric infectious disease expert.
Welcome to Viral Facts with Digital Medic.
If you already have had your children
who are five years and older vaccinated
against COVID, congratulations.
They are in good shape for fighting off COVID disease.
Now that booster shots are available for children
you can move them from good shape
to great shape.
I will explain. The most frequent questions that parents
have been asking about vaccinating and boosting
children against COVID are
why, when, and how.
First, why should children get vaccinated and boosted?
Although fortunately children are much less likely to get very sick
from COVID-19, in the United States alone
over 12 million cases in children have occurred.
Just in the week ending on February the 3rd, 2022,
over 630 thousand cases in children have been reported.
This is over one quarter of all of the cases
in the United States and the most cases
in children in any week since the beginning
of the pandemic.
Recently, over 650 children have been hospitalized
because of COVID every single day.
Since the beginning of the pandemic about two years ago,
more than a thousand children have died from COVID.
A large recently published study noted
about six percent of children who contract COVID
will be hospitalized and one percent will die.
This may sound like a low percent, but of course
a single death of a child is not acceptable.
These statistics should make it obvious
that preventing COVID disease in children
is an imperative.
There's another important reason for vaccinating our children
as soon as they are eligible.
Vaccinated children are much less likely
to spread COVID to others
because they are less likely to get infected themselves
and even if they get infected they are less contagious.
So they are less likely to spread the virus
to their friends and families
including people who could get very sick from COVID
such as those with underlying conditions and the elderly.
Second, when should children get vaccinated and boosted?
The simple answer is as soon as they are eligible.
In the United States, children five years of age and older
can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine
and the data are clear.
The vaccine is as safe and effective in children
as it is in adults.
And side effects are similar
whether getting their first, second or booster
doses of vaccine
some children have mild soreness of their arm
or may seem a bit more tired perhaps
with a headache or achiness or a tummy upset
for a few days.
But serious side effects are virtually unheard of.
The concern about inflammation of the heart
following vaccination has been decreasing
as we have learned more.
For example, a recent review of the data
across thousands of cases of myocarditis
showed that 98 percent of even those cases that occurred after
vaccination were mild
with hospitalization for about one day.
And remember, inflammation of the heart, myocarditis,
is much more common and severe
after getting natural COVID disease
because of the lack of vaccination.
Because the dose of vaccine used in children
who are under 12 years is one third
of that used for those over 12 years,
some parents think that they should wait
until the child turns 12 so they can
get the bigger dose. Please do not delay.
The lower dose has been shown to work
well in those less than 12 years of age
and every day delayed in getting vaccinated
is a day when COVID could happen.
Three, how should you get your children vaccinated?
Check with your child's doctor,
the public health department
or the local pharmacy to see where COVID
immunizations for children can be obtained.
Take your child in for their first dose,
explaining to them why the shot is
important to prevent them from getting sick,
and also explain that they are becoming vaccine superheroes.
They're helping to protect their friends,
their families and their communities.
Take them back for their second shot in
about three weeks and for their booster shot
about five months later.
We now know that the booster adds
an additional layer of protection.
With the booster, your child's protection
against COVID goes from good to great.
If you are wondering why booster shots
have become necessary,
it is because we have learned that for
this particular virus, the protective antibody
that our immune system produces
in response to the vaccine
falls a bit over time and needs to be boosted.
This became evident when the virus
changed its surface spikes like the Omicron.
Boosters help to keep protection high
so the virus can be quickly eliminated
before it can become a severe infection.
This is why booster shots will move your child
from good protection to great protection.
In summary, widespread protection of children
against COVID will help us get
back on the road to normal life.
Vaccination, including a booster dose,
reduces the likelihood that new variants
like Omicron will emerge in the future.
It also prevents the spread of the virus
to those who are too young to receive the vaccine,
or the immunosuppressed.
Also recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics
endorsed the CDC's guidance
to support children going back to school
by vaccinating children five years of age and older.
I am hopeful that the pandemic
will end soon. In the meantime
we need to continue to protect ourselves
and each other from unnecessary severe
infections and deaths.
Let's move from good to great.
Thank you for listening.