After 18 months of waiting while everyone
else could get the coronavirus vaccine today,
our youngest Americans can
also get protected from COVID.
The first shots were given out for
children six months to five years old.
These kids got theirs at Brenner Hospital
right here in the triad to mark the progress.
President Joe Biden visited
a vaccine clinic in DC.
He called it a major step.
Towards putting the COVID pandemic behind us,
it's a very historic milestone.
Monumental step forward.
the United States is now the first
country in the world to offer safe
and effective COVID-19 vaccines
for children as young as six
months old and the first time in
our fight against this pandemic,
nearly every American can now have
access to life saving vaccines.
But parents are having mixed
reaction to the vaccine.
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey
found only about 18% of parents will
definitely get their kid vaccinated.
38% plan to wait and see how it's working.
While 27% say, hey,
they're not going to get
their kids vaccinated at all.
We're super
excited. Super thrilled
that she can finally get
vaccinated. Especially
right now. People don't understand
what the vaccine is really about
and to give it to children
under five. I don't think
it's a. It's the right
move, but where's the shot?
I'm Ben Briscoe from now until six,
we're going to dig into the
top concerns of parents,
including looking at possible
side effects if a shot is needed.
If your child is already had COVID and
which brand of the shot is better,
just like adults, there are different brands
of the vaccines kids can choose from.
But unlike adults,
there are some major differences
between the brands for kids.
Pfizer Moderna both have shots
approved by the federal government.
The big difference between the two is
how many shots modernas is 2 doses.
Pfizer is a three shot series.
It's more shots because it's a smaller dose.
Pfizer is about 110th the
size of an adult vaccine.
Moderna is 1/4 of the adult size.
A star Med doctor from the Triad
says that makes a big difference.
It's actually 3 dose series
and because of that third dose
it showed a higher efficacy. Which manual is
more effective?
Which is exactly what we see with
adults getting that extra booster
dose gave us more protection.
The Majorna is 2 doses.
So that is still off the original series,
and eventually we'll need a
booster freedom of German as well,
so we expect the numbers to
be very similar when you talk
about 3 doses and three doses,
but as of right now,
the Pfizer's three doses,
compared to Modernes,
2 dose is better. But
if you want your child fully vaccinated
by the start of the school year,
Madonna is the way to go with Pfizer.
Even if your kid got their first
shot tomorrow. We would not have
full protection until September.
So if you're one of the parents looking
to get your children vaccinated,
the state just launched a portal
where you can find vaccine locations.
It goes a step further too.
It lets you find places
with the vaccine you want.
You just put in your location and pick
which brand you'd rather your child get.
Then a whole bunch of places to
get your kid vaccinated pop up.
You can find this through the
North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Services website.
A lot of parents say they don't
want to vaccinate.
Their kid, because they already had COVID,
or they think the risk is pretty low.
Doctors don't agree with that
line of thinking.
Let's break down their
thoughts by the numbers.
About 70% of kids in the
US have already had COVID
doctors say that should not
stop you from getting your
child vaccinated. Still
worth getting.
The vaccine really offers an
extra level level of protection.
An extra layer of protection.
What vaccines do is they keep kids
out of the hospital and that's
why they are so effective and
everybody deserves that protection.
The vaccine induced immunity
probably lasts a little bit longer,
and so that's one reason to do it.
Another reason to do that is that
it's still possible to get infected
a second time and have a more
severe course of illness than you
did the first time. 50,000 kids
have even had to go to the hospital
with the virus. That's why doctors
recommend the shot,
but this is a serious disease in children.
More than 1000 kids have died
about 440 under the age of four.
We've seen as you said,
10s of thousands of hospitalizations
in this age segment,
and this isn't a benign illness and
a lot of kids healthy kids as well
as kids with a lot of comorbid.
And finally, zero safety concerns
were found in the clinical
trials reviewed by the FDA and
CDC. These vaccines have
been thoroughly tested.
Millions of children above the age
of five have gotten these vaccines
that are exceedingly safe and we
expect confidence in these vaccines
to build overtime in this population.
But just like the initial
rollout of vaccines for adults,
a lot of parents have concerns. Now.
Some of the concerns have gained traction
online because they're coming from
verified accounts and people in power.
A few days ago, Senator Ron Johnson
from Wisconsin tweeted this video.
It's of an FDA official saying
kids have a greater risk for
myocarditis from the vaccine.
More than 450,000 people
have seen the video so far.
We tracked down the video on the FDA's.
YouTube page it's actually from a year
ago and the data he was referring to
was about the vaccine for kids 12 to 17.
The CDC says only about 5 out
of every 1,000,000 kids get
myocarditis from the vaccine.
You still don't want your
kid to be one of them,
but the risk is very very low
and symptoms are usually mild and
even go away without treatment.
Doctors continue to say the
vaccines are both safe and.
Effective for kids including
the same guy from the video
that Senator Johnson shared.
But we do not observe a statistically
significantly higher micardis risk in
a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recipient.
Obviously the safety in this
population is of paramount importance.
Now into another elected official
raising concerns about the
vaccine for young children.
Florida's governor says the state
won't even fund any program
that distributes the vaccine.
In fact, the state they didn't
even order a single dose.
He says he doesn't think vaccinating
young children is appropriate,
so the state's not going
to spend any money on it.
Now from the six month to five the
the state's recommendation holds.
It's a recommendation against doing it.
That's different than saying you can't.
You are free to choose.
That's that's not an issue.
He says it's up to doctors,
offices and hospitals to order
vaccines for young children.
The former FDA commissioner joined
Face the Nation to address what's
happening in Florida and why he
thinks parents should feel totally
safe vaccinating their kids. This
got a unanimous vote from a pretty diverse
set of advisors at the FDA 21 zero.
In a unanimous vote from CDC.
So I think people should feel confident
in the safety and effectiveness
of both of these vaccines.
He says Florida's governor is wrong to
actively oppose vaccinating children.
We know a lot of parents feel uneasy
about vaccinating young children.
It doesn't help when doctors and
public figures seem to disagree.
The best thing that you can do
is talk with your child's doctor.
They know you, they know your kid.
They'll help you make the best
decision for you and your family.