Docs,
My wife and I have had several conversations about getting our kids, 5 and 3, the Covid-19 vaccination when it's released and available. She wants them vaccinated. I do not. (I'm not an anti-vaxxer type.) The conversations eventually turn into arguments and have been heated at times, but she has said she cannot in good faith get them vaccinated if their father is against it. We both want what is best for our children, but see things differently.

My rationale is that there's no upside to giving a healthy child a rushed vaccination for a virus that does not effect them. I want to leave it up to them so when they are of age, they can choose for themselves. The death rate in children is extremely low among reported cases with mostly mild symptoms, if any, being reported. In the rare cases of a child dying directly because of Covid-19, I have not seen anything pertaining to whether the patient was healthy or unhealthy, had pre-existing condition that directly effect how well a patient does when infected with the Covid-19 virus, etc., which I think is a fair question given how rare it is to have serious Covid-19 complications in a child.

Is there any information out there that you would show a parent such as myself to maybe change their mind and get their children vaccinated if they are healthy and not immunocompromised? My wife asked our Pediatrician and she suggested they get the kids vaccinated when it's possible, but that was the extent of her questioning about if we should.

Thank you for your time.

(source: https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Death-Counts-by-Sex-Age-and-S/9bhg-hcku)

I think they will move kids up in line to after essential workers but before retired and remote-work adults in order to remove any excuses for closing schools.

Not saying I agree with it, just what I think will happen

Duncan Idaho said:

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I think they will move kids up in line to after essential workers but before retired and remote-work adults in order to remove any excuses for closing schools.

Not saying I agree with it, just what I think will happen

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Man I hope not. They'd be better off, and accomplish the exact same thing if they put at-risk adults who have kids in their household next on the list.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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I don't think there's much, if any, data out there that specifically points to the safety of these vaccines in kids. I suspect most of the trial participants were 18+. And honestly, I think kids are going to be low on the priority to get the vaccine. Likely won't see these vaccines reaching those younger than 12 for 10-12 months from now.

Hopefully KidDoc chimes in, as he's not only a pediatrician but also smarter and more experienced than I am with this kind of stuff. But I think it's reasonable to hold off on getting your kids vaccinated for a while. And, hopefully, more and more data will continue to come out in the next 6 months to a year.

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Yeah, what I've read is kids are above me, a 40 something healthy guy. I'm in the same boat and definitely not anti vax, but do wonder why anyone healthy and under 60 needs it.

Justin2010 said:

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It's a pointless discussion - the vaccine will not be available to kids at all.

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How about now? Pfizer currently seeking emergency authorization for kids 5-11, FDA promising to "move quickly" on approvals. Just what the American public wants and needs. A government agency expediting something. Flawless processes, I'm sure.

Now that we've had more time to evaluate the vaccine and covid's effect on different groups, it seems unreasonable to request "emergency" authorization for the vaccine to be administered to a group that has a statistically improbable chance - almost non existent - of experiencing major complications due to the virus.

Smells like a money grab to me. I'm interested to see where educated folks stand on this.