The COVID-19 Vaccine May Be Available Soon For Kids. Here’s What Parents Need to Know.
I’ve honestly been waiting for this day – the day we’d find out if there will be a COVID-19 vaccine for our kids.
From the beginning I never understood why there would be a vaccine made for adults but not children.
I mean, they get the flu shot so why not made a COVID-19 vaccine for them too?
It also never made sense that while my husband and I intend to get the vaccine, our children would still be vulnerable and I couldn’t in good faith send them back to school like that.
But now we are finally getting some answers and information on a COVID-19 vaccine that may be soon available for kids. Here’s what parents need to know.
For starters, I found out it is completely normal that when a new vaccine is made, they make it for adults first then for children.
Secondly, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and he is hopeful that coronavirus vaccination may be available to kids as young as first graders in the next few months.
This of course would depend on the testing currently being conducted.
In an interview, Dr. Fauci said children as young as first graders may be able to get the coronavirus vaccine by the time school starts back up in September.
“We’re in the process of starting clinical trials in what we call age de-escalation, where you do a clinical trial with people 16 to 12, then 12 to 9, then 9 to 6,”
“I would think by the time we get to school opening, we likely will be able to get people who come into the first grade.”
ProPublica
Some pediatricians are wanting the trials to move more quickly to ensure that children are vaccinated helping stop the further spread of the virus.
So, is a COVID-19 vaccine safe for children? Well, we don’t have the final results but we do know it is currently being studied.
According to ProPublica, Pfizer is the only manufacturer whose pediatric vaccine trials are far enough along to potentially have data on elementary-school age children by the end of the summer.
Pfizer has finished enrolling participants in its study of 12- to 15-year-olds and anticipates having data in “the early part of 2021,” according to a spokeswoman.
Moderna is currently seeking participants for their first study of 12 to 15 year olds and Johnson and Johnson hasn’t even started those trials yet.
So, as of right now, it is still a waiting game.
However, as always, speak with your child’s Pediatrician to discuss options and see if they feel the vaccine is safe. They are the best person to know your child’s medical history and relevant information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
You can also read the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations on the vaccine here.
