They are finally here! COVID-19 vaccinations have finally been approved for the youngest people aged 6 months to 5 years. Studies have been performed in children that show definite protective benefits and no serious side effects. The first step was FDA approval, after a consultative panel discussed the week of June 13 – just two days – to vote unanimously on a recommended solution, saying the benefits outweigh any risks to young children.
The CDC signed the vaccines on June 18 with another unanimous vote. Both vaccines consist of the adult version of Pfizer’s mRNA, but a much reduced dose of 3 micrograms instead of 30 micrograms given in three doses to cause high levels of antibodies equivalent to young adults. The first two doses are divided into three weeks and the third at least two months later. The study found only 10 cases of COVID in the three-dose group and seven in the placebo group for 80% efficacy. The study included only a small number of patients. Most infectious disease experts and pediatricians warn that the fact that vaccines save children’s lives should not be overlooked.
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The Moderna RNA vaccine is the same as the adult vaccine, but only a quarter of the dose at 25 micrograms in a series of two doses given at four-week intervals. Both this and the Pfizer vaccine achieved the same levels of immunity that protected young adults from serious illness. None of the COVID vaccines developed has achieved the ideal of eliminating the infection. But they saved many lives.
The risk of COVID in children is very real, although hospitalizations and deaths are lower than in adults. In children aged 1-4 years, COVID is the fifth leading cause of death. A source who looked at the period from January 2020 to May 2022 said that 202 children in this age group had died from COVID. Another source cites 480 children who died of COVID. This is more deaths per year than hepatitis, meningitis, rotavirus and other common infectious diseases caused before routine vaccinations for them. And the risk was not limited to a specific group. More than half of the young people hospitalized for COVID did not have a major illness.
These vaccines have proven to be one of the safest for adults. In preliminary studies in this age group, side effects / side effects were mostly mild and short-lived, similar to those in adults and similar to those in other vaccines. The main one was pain and redness or tenderness at the injection site. There may be some irritability, tiredness or drowsiness, loss of appetite, headache, abdominal pain or discomfort, mild diarrhea, vomiting. But everyone recovered quickly! The fever was rare and mild in the participants. They can be treated with acetaminophen.
A pediatric infectious disease specialist at Denver Children’s Hospital in Colorado said it was important to keep in mind that COVID-19 is now one of the vaccine-preventable diseases with the highest mortality rates. Hospitalization rates for children with COVID were five times higher during the recent wave than the worst previous points of the pandemic. Catherine Pauling, director of health for the pediatric population at Wake Ford School of Medicine, said: “I’m shocked by these numbers. I’m also concerned that there is a real underestimation of the potential burden. “FDA Commissioner Robert Calif said:” Every death of a child is tragic and should be prevented if possible. “
This is a guarantee that if a respiratory germ enters a home, it will enter anyone who lives there. It may not linger in each individual to create what we call a disease for a variety of reasons, but the microbe does circles, a positive test or not. This includes any child who kisses you or shares food with you.
The COVID variants currently crawling on our cows are killing fewer Americans every day than in any other period except the summer of 2021. But now the country is recording 10 times more cases than at the time, showing that fewer cases are causing deaths. But COVID still kills an average of 314 people a day. These cute little Petri dishes (not “peach tree”) that we parents and grandparents love to hug and kiss can be vectors of so many viruses. Vaccines are a means of preventing this spread and infection. This is an incomplete tool, but is part of a larger effort to stop infections, along with hand washing, etc.
Maybe you could liken it to a fork among our cutlery. We could eat almost anything on the plate with this fork, but the knife and spoon certainly help us to separate and divide the delicious products that we can’t pierce with a spear. In essence, vaccines are safe and valuable. One preventable child death is too much. Make your hit!
Dr. Bures, a semi-retired dermatologist, has worked for Winona, La Crosse, Viroqua and Red Wing since 1978. He also plays clarinet in the Winona Municipal Band and several Dixieland bands. And he enjoys a good pun.
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