Dr. Lee Savio Beers, president of American Academy of Pediatrics, explains.


COVID vaccine for kids: Parents should have confidence in the FDA

Health

COVID vaccine for kids: Trust the FDA 

Across the country in Children and adults, we're seeing big increases in infection rates largely due to the delta variant, which we I think all know is much more transmissible, thankfully. Children by large do very well with COVID-19 infection. They're not as at risk for severe infection as adults are, but they can get very sick. And I say a lot, you know, a small percentage of a lot of kids is a whole lot of kids. And so what's happening is in our pediatrician's offices in our Children's hospitals. We're seeing a lot of Children who are, who are very, very ill with covid of course, vaccination is one of the most important tools in our toolbox to help prevent the covid 19 infection. We do know that there are small numbers of breakthrough infections. This is normal. That happens with every vaccine. But when we look at vaccines for Children versus adults, uh, you know, the basic vaccine really is going to be the same. The big difference is often have to do with the dose and the amount of the vaccine we give. And sometimes in the length of time between doses, we know Children are younger that there there are still growing and developing. And so we're always going to have an extra layer of caution when we're developing vaccines are really any medication for Children. And so the reason it's taking longer to get a vaccine for our younger kids is exactly that we're going through all the steps that we always do with vaccine development. You start with adults determined that the vaccine is safe and effective and adults and then you start to work backwards and figure out is the vaccine effective in younger kids and what's the right dose in the younger kids. And you have to take that step by step to make sure you have a safe and effective vaccine. Yeah. Mm. Yeah. It's not mm mm For parents who have questions about the covid 19 vaccine. I think the first thing I want to say is that's normal your your parent, um, your job is to make sure that you understand the health decisions that you're making for your child. But the FDA review and authorization process is really robust and careful and I think that any parent can feel confident that when a vaccine and authorized by the FDA that it's safe and effective for, for the people have authorized for and that includes Children. Um, I felt this way I have two teenagers at home and when when the vaccine is authorized for them, I I had them vaccinated without hesitation. But I think as a parent you should feel really confident that when a vaccine is authorized, it's safe and effective for your child. The American Academy of Pediatrics uh, you know, really recommends that that school is in person school is the best place for kids to be. We want to make sure that all Children have access to in person school and part of how we can make that happen is by implementing implementing safe and effective and layered mitigation precautions. One of those things is wearing a mask in school, all all Children and adults in school settings. We do recommend that they wear masks and there's a couple of reasons for that. One is that we know there are still lots of kids who aren't eligible to be vaccinated. Um and so we want to make sure that we're keeping them safe and that and that we're also helping to prevent the spread of covid to others because we know masks protect us as individuals, also protect our friends and those around us. Um The second reason is that, you know, this is, you know, I'm really sympathetic to teachers, right? They have a lot that they're managing right now um and to be asking them to sort of figure out and remember who's vaccinated, who's not vaccinated, you can wear a mask, you don't have to wear a mask. Um You know, that's that's that's not terribly practical or pragmatic. Well we wait for vaccines to be authorized in for our younger Children. It's one of the most important things we, as adults and adolescents can do to protect the little ones in our communities to get vaccinated ourselves if we are vaccinated, that helps decrease the spread of COVID and communities in it. And it helps protect our our little list one. Mhm