Kids Below 15 Are Getting The Vaccine
It hasn’t been a long time since some organizations and countries started testing and approving the vaccines for 15-18 year-olds. Scientists are now focusing on testing and starting their studies for children below 15. The goal is for school-age children to become eligible by the time school starts in the fall. Although kids are at a lower risk for COVID, this doesn’t mean they can get it. Moreover, they are the first group that can transmit the virus to their family due to the fact that they are exploring and touching objects and people more frequently than their older counterparts.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association collect and share data from states on child COVID-19 cases. As of April 22, over 3.71 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. After increases in new reported cases in the past couple of weeks, the cases decrease this week with nearly 80,000 new child cases. Some are not so fortunate; between 1.2%-3.1% of total reported hospitalizations, 0.1%-1.9% resulted in hospitalization and 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.
Before the vaccines become available for younger teens and children, clinical trials need to be completed to ensure they are safe and effective for these age groups as well as to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including physical health of infected children and the vaccine’s emotional and mental health effects. Once this information is available, the AAP will review it and make vaccine recommendations for children and adolescents.
Pfizer was already testing its vaccine in kids aged 12 to 15, and on Wednesday, Pfizer said the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with the German company BioNTech is safe and provides strong protection against the disease in children in this age group. Now they are testing and studying the vaccine in those children from six month to 11 years.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have been testing its vaccine in those aged 12 to 17 as well And this month both companies began trials in children aged six months to 11 years as well.
Another important thing to add is that an unpublished study estimated how well the shots boosted the children’s immune systems, having higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than in studies of young adults. As well some children and teens had side effects such as pain, fever, chills and fatigue, particularly after the second dose.
The Healthy Children Organization recommended that “in the meantime, make sure your children are caught up on their vaccinations against measles, influenza, whooping cough, and any others that your pediatrician recommends.
Once a vaccine is approved, health authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the AAP, will recommend when and how children should get it.”
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