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Now is the time for students 12 and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19 so they can be fully immunized before school starts, two Utah pediatricians said on Friday, urging parents who have doubts about vaccines to talk to their family doctor to clear up any misinformation.
“Most parents, however, who hesitate, tend to be more of an emotional decision, not a logical decision. That’s why I think it’s also great to talk to someone who knows you personally,” Dr Tim Duffy, associate medical director of Intermountain Healthcare’s pediatric service line, said in a virtual press conference.
Duffy said parents hear a lot about the coronavirus and children, but “they don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. That their health care provider interprets that for them, in the context of what’s going on in their own families, is huge.
Providers agree that while there is some risk in immunizing adolescents and adolescents, “it is very, very low and certainly less than exposure” to COVID-19 for this age group. , said Duffy. Vaccines are currently only available for ages 12 and older, although federal approval for young children to get vaccinated could arrive this winter.
Dr Andy Pavia, head of the pediatric infectious disease division at the University of Utah Health and director of hospital epidemiology at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, said myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, is a rare vaccine-related side effect more common in men under 30 years old.
“But it’s extraordinarily rare. For every case of myocarditis that could occur with the vaccination, it is estimated that this will prevent some 14,200 cases, around 400 hospitalizations and three deaths, ”Pavia said. “We have seen a few cases of mild myocarditis. People are recovering well.
He dismissed what he called a “myth” that vaccinations can affect fertility as “100% complete hogwash”, but said it was actively disseminated on social media and may have come from ” an active anti-vaccination group or even a Russian disinformation campaign “. “
Other false claims circulating, Pavia said, are that vaccines are less effective or unsafe in young people and that they don’t get as sick if they contract COVID-19.
“What drives me the craziest is that COVID isn’t a big deal for teens,” he said. There have been about a thousand hospitalizations in this age group, “and a few deaths”, from COVID-19, along with long-term effects of the virus in some cases.
The Utah Department of Health reports that there have been fewer than five deaths from the virus among Utahns under one year old and those aged 1 to 14, and eight deaths from COVID-19 among 15 to 24 years old.
Just over 30% of Utahns aged 12 to 15 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 22.5% are considered fully vaccinated, meaning that two weeks or more have passed since their last dose, according to the state health department. The numbers are increasing for Utahns 12-18, with 38.5% having at least one dose and nearly 31% fully vaccinated.
Pavie said Utah is ahead of most other states when it comes to immunizing children and adolescents.
” It’s really good. It’s one of the only places where we are ahead of most states in COVID statistics. It shows the enthusiasm that most parents have to protect their children, ”Pavia said. “But 38% is not enough. We have a long way to go.
In a special session in May, the Utah legislature banned requiring masks in classrooms during the upcoming school year, but Pavie said that shouldn’t stop parents, teachers and students to come together “to do the right thing”, especially for children too young to be vaccinated.
For Utahns under the age of 12, home learning may be the safest option, he said.
“If you really want to protect your child from infection, especially if they are at a very high risk due to their heart or lung disease, or cancer,” Pavia said, distance learning or the home schooling “is probably the safe option”.
He said he was “very worried” about the possible impact of the new school year on the number of cases already on the rise in the state. The COVID-19 outbreak in Utah recently ranked sixth among the worst in the country, due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the virus first detected in India and vaccination rates to behind the state.
Last fall, the new school year “sparked a big push in the community. Logic would say that’s what we’re up against and that’s what worries us. We’ll just have to see, ”Pavie said, calling it a“ big lift ”to increase vaccination rates by fall.
Duffy also said he would love to see children wear face masks to school this fall, and expressed concern about how much time many have already missed in class due to the virus.
“Honestly, I really need people to get vaccinated, because I don’t want to stop kids from going to school anymore. I think missing two years of schooling in person and the social aspect, I think that will have effects down the road. I would just like to implore people to vaccinate so that we can send the children to school safely. “
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