For parents who may be worried about spreading COVID to your unvaccinated young children, that could soon change.
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be approved for emergency use for kids between the ages of 5 and 11.
Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are available for anyone over 18 years old.
Pfizer is the only vaccine that is approved for kids between the ages of 12 to 18.
And now, it’s on track to be approved for kids between 5 and 11 years old.
“As pediatricians, we are encouraging all vaccines. This one feels especially important, just given the state of the world,” said Dr. Corey Fish, chief medical officer at Brave Care.
Fish said pediatricians have been waiting on this vaccine approval for a while now.
"Vaccines are by far the best and most important tool we have against this," Fish said. "The studies really took their time. The FDA and the CDC really took their time reviewing all of the data.”
“For parents who are eager to vaccinate their younger kids, we’re looking at an early November rollout for doses -- a lot happening in public health and in health systems behind the scenes,” said Dr. Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County health officer.
Generally, young kids are less likely to get severely ill or die from COVID. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
“Kids are still susceptible to quite severe illness and end up in the ICU,” Fish said. “One in 20 kids who are hospitalized with COVID-19 will actually start to experience pretty severe neurological symptoms. Things like seizures, personality changes, really severe stuff, and nobody really knows at this point whether those are permanent or they’re going to get better at some point.”
And this is why many parents will be standing first in line as soon as it’s approved.
KATU’s Frances Lin asked on Nextdoor if parents will be vaccinating their kids.
Everyone who messaged said yes, and one parent, Cameron, sent a text saying they are “1,000% vaccinating my 6 year old as soon as I can.”
KATU’s Frances Lin responded, asking, “Would you feel safer with your 6-year-old going to school after they are vaccinated?”
Cameron, a Hawthorne resident, said, “Yes. And playing with other kids. And doing things that foster their emotional development. And I can get my life back because I won’t be as worried that I’m going to bring Covid home (despite being vaccinated) to my unvaxxed kids. I am absolutely exhausted by the last 2 years. Vaccines are the way out for parents.”
And when Fish was asked if he’s concerned about side effects at all, he responded with “absolutely not. The most talked about side effect with the coronavirus vaccine seems to be inflammation of the heart muscle. That seems to occur most commonly in adult males. That side effect is experienced in about two in 100,000 people specifically in that group. Coronavirus can cause inflammation of the heart muscle by itself, that is much more likely cause of that than the vaccine would be.”