Crying and screaming children fill the clinic, grabbing the doors to the area where they give shots, pleading with nurses and their parents not to take the vaccine.
One kid (4) cried, “I hate the entire Kaiser World…” as his father threw him into the chair and nurses wrestled him into the chair.
The questions that many parents are asking are: is the vaccine safe? And should my child take the vaccine?
We all love our kids and want the best for them.
Although, I will admit watching kids screaming and crying in the waiting room while my little brother calmly took the vaccine was the highlight of my week so far personally.
As we enter the holiday season and haul kids onto a plane or a car to go visit our relatives and family members, keeping the vaccine as an option is helpful.
The CDC states that, “The federal government is committed to ensuring that children ages 5 through 11 years old have access to COVID-19 vaccines. Scientists have conducted clinical trials with about 3,000 children, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has met the safety and efficacy standards for authorization in children ages 5 through 11 years old.”
I still, however, understand the dilemma that parents face when offering up the most valuable thing in their lives, what has kept them going throughout the pandemic and maybe their lives.
But, take into consideration that the CDC has conducted many trials on many different children and there have been no accidents or deaths.
Although symptoms for children ages 5-11 are very mild when they do get the virus, taking the vaccine could prevent infections, disruptions in their education, hospitalization, and other severe and rare complications of the disease.
According to NPR, “More than 8,300 kids aged 5 to 11 have been hospitalized with COVID-19 because of serious illness. According to a CDC analysis, the number of children and adolescents admitted to the hospital increased nearly fivefold over the summer months amid the delta surge.”
I know no parent or older sibling wants to see their brother, sister, or child suffer from the virus in a hospital bed on life support.
In addition to getting COVID, children around 9 years old also have the tendency to get MISC (multisystem inflammatory syndrome).
You might be saying “my child is healthy and doesn’t have any other underlying health issues.”
But, what the CDC found is that 30% of children hospitalized didn’t ever have any underlying health issues.
You take your pick.
Make the right decision for you and your child. The time to act is now!
