According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association (AAP), as of Sept. 30, 2021, nearly 5.9 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Even more unsettling is that with over 173,000 cases added in the past week and nearly 850,000 child cases added over the past 4 weeks, “the number of new child COVID cases remains exceptionally high.”
These surges in child cases have several parents desperate for the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for ages 5-11. Jennifer Macklom, a parent of Cedar Park, Texas, was determined to get her three daughters enrolled in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. Previously contracting early forms of the coronavirus, two of her daughters were simultaneously hooked up on oxygen and feeding tubes. “I can’t do that again. I can’t emotionally have anyone I love or even know be hooked up to one of these things,” voiced Macklom, recalling her daughters’ grim experiences.
Luckily for parents, Pfizer, a corporation known for its creation of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, recently reported “positive topline results” from its trial in children ages 5-11, and announced that the vaccine was “safe, well-tolerated and showed robust neutralizing antibody.” Adding on to this report, Anthony Fauci, MD, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, suggested that the vaccine could be available for kids by mid-October. “I would imagine we’re talking in a matter of weeks, possibly by the end of the month, beginning of next month because I know the FDA really wants to do it correctly, but they want to do it quickly,” he stated at an online town hall meeting.
Although the process of FDA approval still carries on for vaccine availability for children aged 5-11, those eligible are recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. By getting the vaccine, those unable to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, specifically young children, can stay protected. As Fauci reminds, “The way you protect children who, because of their age, cannot get vaccinated yet is to surround the children–be it friends, family, school teachers, personnel in the school–surround the children with vaccinated people.”
Article by Myla Leung of Winston Churchill High School
Photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema from Unsplash