Shots for children a relief for parents

Parents tired of worrying about outbreaks in the classroom and sick of telling their school-aged children no to sleepovers and family reunions felt a wave of relief on Thursday when Pfizer asked the US government to authorize its vaccine COVID-19 for young people aged 5 to 11.

If regulators give the green light, reduced-dose injections for children could start within a few weeks.

It could bring many families closer to distance learning, virus scares and repeated school closings and quarantines.

“My son asked about playing sports. “After your vaccination. He asked to see his cousins ​​again. “After your vaccination. “A lot of our plans are on hold,” said Sarah Staffiere of Waterville, Maine, whose 7-year-old suffers from a rare immune disease that has forced the family to be extra careful throughout the pandemic. .

“When it is vaccinated, it would restore our lives to our family,” she said.

The expansion of vaccine availability to an estimated 28 million additional U.S. children is seen as another important step in the fight against the virus and comes amid an alarming increase in serious infections among young people due to the variant. delta extra-contagious.

It would also push the US vaccination campaign further than most of the rest of the world at a time when many poor countries are desperately short of vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration must decide whether injections are safe and effective in young children.

Many parents and pediatricians are calling for protection for children under 12, the current age limit for COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States

Nine-year-old Audrey Moulder, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Drexel Hill, is eager to visit her grandmother without fear that she will give COVID-19 to the older woman.

“She’s excited because she thinks it’s a responsibility,” said her father, Justin Moulder. “She wants to keep her friends and family safe.”

Dr. Amanda Powell, an internist and pediatrician who runs a clinic in Portland, Maine, is eager to set worry-free play dates and plan a family trip again once her 9-year-old is vaccinated.

“We want to be able to resume some normal activities,” she said.

But there are also many parents who are reluctant to get vaccinated themselves and are in no rush to get their children vaccinated.

Heather Miller, a mother of four from Dexter, Maine, said she wanted to wait for follow-up studies on the vaccine. “I’m not 100% against getting a result, but I kind of fall into the ‘not yet just wait and see’ category,” she said.

Cindy Schilling, principal of an elementary school in West Virginia, which ranks last for the percentage of residents fully immunized, said the start of the year has been tough as many children test positive or put in quarantine at different times, making it difficult for teachers and students to stay on track.

Still, she said she often heard parents say they were more concerned about the effects of the vaccine than about COVID-19.

“Some parents all agree and get it for the peace of mind,” she said, “but the majority of parents I spoke to won’t get it.”

While children are at less risk of serious illness or death than older adults, COVID-19 sometimes kills children – at least 520 to date in the United States, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said their research shows that young children should receive one-third of the dose now given to everyone. After their second dose, children aged 5 to 11 developed anti-virus antibody levels as strong as those teens and young adults get with regular injections.

On October 26, an independent panel of experts advising the FDA will publicly debate the evidence. If the FDA allows emergency use of pediatric doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make a final decision, after hearing from its outside advisers.

To avoid confusion, Pfizer plans to ship low-dose vials specially marked for use in children.

He studied the lowest dose in 2,268 volunteers aged 5 to 11 and said there were no serious side effects. The study is not large enough to detect extremely rare side effects, such as heart inflammation that sometimes occurs after the second dose of the regular strength vaccine, mostly in young men.

Moderna has applied for FDA clearance to use its vaccine in ages 12 to 17 and is also studying its injections in elementary school children. Pfizer and Moderna are also studying even younger children, up to 6 months old. The results are expected later this year.