{"id":4764,"date":"2021-06-14T13:31:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T20:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthykidshappykids.com\/?p=4764"},"modified":"2021-09-26T18:33:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T01:33:49","slug":"should-kids-get-a-covid-19-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vps37072.inmotionhosting.com\/~healt472\/2021\/06\/14\/should-kids-get-a-covid-19-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Kids Get a COVID-19 Vaccine? A pediatrician’s perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n[UPDATED: September 26, 2021 to take into account data since the Delta variant became the predominant SARS-coV-2 strain in the US at the end of June 2021.]\n\n\n\n

Some parents had already decided that they were going to be the first in line to get a COVID-19 vaccine, as soon as Emergency Use Authorization was granted by the FDA for use in 12 to 15-year-olds on May 10, 2021. And now are anxiously awaiting authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds expected shortly. Other parents had already decided that there was no way they would ever get a COVID-19 vaccine for their kids, even if Emergency Use Authorization was granted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is not for either of those parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is for those parents who have questions. Those parents who may have had the vaccine themselves, and who may want the vaccine for their kids, but have hesitations about the novel mRNA technology and lack of long-term safety data in kids. Those parents who, in light of the fact that the risk to the vast majority of kids for serious disease and death from COVID-19 is so low, and a link to myocarditis and the vaccine is confirmed, want reassurance that the vaccine\u2019s short-term and long-term risks for serious adverse events are as low, or lower, than the risk from COVID-19 infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am here as a Stanford-, NYU-, UCSF-trained pediatrician to share what I know to help you and your child make as informed a decision as possible, given the limitations of the information we currently have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am here to share the science \u2013 even if that science goes against your current beliefs and biases. Don\u2019t just look for evidence that confirms what you currently believe is true – that\u2019s called Confirmation Bias. That\u2019s not good science. That\u2019s not good medicine. That\u2019s not good policy-making. That\u2019s not good decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From writing the first article published on a functional and integrative medicine approach to COVID-19 on February 27, 2020, COVID-19: What a Pediatrician Wants You to Know<\/a> (1) (an article that went \u201cviral\u201d within hours and to date has had over 1.3 million views), to experiencing the fear and panic that I never want any parent to experience when my 8-year old son, Bodi, was hospitalized in March 2020 with all the signs of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), long before we even knew what MIS-C was — I\u2019ve poured my heart and soul into researching COVID-19 to help parents just like you navigate the pandemic with calm and confidence, using facts over fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step back in time to March 2020, just after we went into lockdown. Just after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Remember the fear, the anxiety, the collective worldwide panic? We had no idea how kids were going to do with COVID-19. And if COVID was like the flu, which we believed at that time, kids were expected to do worse than adults – much worse. Now fast forward to June 2021, and we\u2019re in a very different place. We know that the vast majority of children do well and survive, even if they get very sick, and even if they are hospitalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But fear has ruled our lives as parents for the last year and a half. Many of you are afraid of your kids getting sick with COVID-19. But many of you are also afraid of your kids getting serious adverse reactions from the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we need to let go of the fear that gripped us in 2020.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time to learn to BREATHE again. It\u2019s time for us to start making calm, rational decisions for our children based on science, NOT fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s start with the science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 vaccination in adults is protecting children<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The science currently shows that COVID-19 vaccines are effective in reducing serious disease, hospitalizations and death in vaccinated adults. They may even reduce mild and asymptomatic infection and transmission in adults. (2,3) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This same holds true after the Delta variant became the predominant strain by the end of June 2021. The following graphs compare cases, hospitalizations and deaths in fully vaccinated vs. not fully vaccinated individuals 18 years and older, during the period between April 4, 2021 – June 19, 2021 when there was low prevalence of Delta and June 20, 2021 – July 17, 2021 when there was high prevalence of Delta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scobie HM, Johnson AG, Suthar AB, et al. Monitoring Incidence of COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Status \u2014 13 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4\u2013July 17, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1284\u20131290. DOI: http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.15585\/mmwr.mm7037e1<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The report notes that as Delta became prevalent, not fully vaccinated adults had a 10.4X higher risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 and an 11.3X higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated adults. The report also notes that not fully vaccinated individuals had a 4.6X times higher risk of getting infected in the first place with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated individuals, However, this number must be taken with a grain of salt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can no longer accurately know how many vaccinated individuals develop asymptomatic or mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infections (and transmit disease) due to the fact that as of May 1, 2021, the CDC is only tracking vaccinated individuals with breakthrough COVID-19 infections that result in hospitalization or death. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current vaccines seem to have efficacy against variants, even the concerning Delta variant (first found in India and named B.1.617.2). (4,5) A remarkable real-world experiment (6) where nearly all the adults in a small Brazilian town were vaccinated with the Chinese inactivated CoronaVac vaccine between February and April 2021 found a drop in symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 86%, hospitalizations by 86%, and deaths by 95%. In the meantime, surrounding cities in Brazil continued to have out-of-control surges with the P.1 variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 vaccination in adults, even without pediatric vaccination, protects children. Even before COVID-19 vaccines had been rolled out to children and adolescents in the US, the number of new pediatric COVID-19 cases added per week dropped by 50% – from 72,067 new cases the week of May 6, to 34,463 new cases the week of May 27 (7) \u2013 the LOWEST<\/em><\/strong> number of new cases recorded since the week of October 9-15, 2020. (8) This same phenomenon is being seen in Israel, with possibly the highest rates of adult vaccination of any other country. In Israel, the Pfizer vaccine has not yet been rolled out to children under 16, yet pediatric COVID-19 cases have dropped by 99% since January 2021. (9) A recent study (10) found that for every 20-point increase in the rate of vaccination among adults, the risk of infection in children is reduced by half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children are less likely to transmit infection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the early days of the pandemic, there was significant concern that children could be silent spreaders and major transmitters of COVID-19, as is the case with influenza. However, we are no longer in the early days of the pandemic. The preponderance of evidence now shows that children are less likely to spread infection, even if they are asymptomatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large Scottish study (11) of families between March and October 2020 found that the risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in adults was significantly reduced by having children in the household \u2013 the higher the number of children, the lower the risk. And this risk did NOT increase once schools were reopened to all children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several studies have demonstrated that lower viral load in the nasopharynx has been associated with lower rates of transmission. In other words, the less virus that grows in your nose, the less infectious you are to others. Children in general have been found to have lower viral loads and lower culture positive rates. One study (12) found that nasopharyngeal swabs from children 0-5 years were 80% less infectious as adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another study (13) found that pediatric nasopharyngeal swabs from children < 10 years and children 11-17 years old had a 55% lower rate of growing live virus than adults. Culture positive rates in children < 10 years was significantly lower than for children 11-17 years and for adults. The authors note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese results are contrary to what has been observed with other respiratory viruses for which efficient infection and transmission in children often herald widespread community transmission. However, these findings are consistent with epidemiological studies that show limited SARS-CoV-2 spread from children younger than 10 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children may not be needed for herd immunity \u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Increasing evidence (14,15,16) points to long-lasting B-cell and T-cell immunity from prior infection, even mild infection \u2013 lasting at least 12 months, and possibly lifelong. And several studies show that T-cell immunity from prior infection likely confers immunity against circulating variants, (17,18,19) even the Delta variant (B.1.617.2). (20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large study (21) of over 52,000 employees of the Cleveland Clinic Health System found that while COVID-19 infections increased in those without a prior history of infection who remained unvaccinated, the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection was essentially ZERO for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n