Rev03 said:
We give kids other vaccines for illnesses that killed less kids per year than covid has. Hep A only killed on average 3 people under age 20 per year before the vaccine came out. Chicken pox killed on average 16 kids aged 5-9 per year before the vaccine. Rotovirus killed 20 kids younger than 5 per year before the vaccine. Covid has killed 66 kids aged 5-11 from Oct 2020-Oct 2021. I think it's fine if people want to wait but I don't think it's out of line at all to give kids the covid vaccine, based on what we know about covid and the vaccine.
Sure I'll break those down for you.
Hep A is food born, no treatment, high risk of hospitalization and very dangerous in 55+ especially if they have latent Hep C. Vaccination has nearly eliminated it in states where it is mandated even border states. In addition it is just about the most effective and safest vaccine we have ever made so that is one of the main drivers for universal vaccination.
Hepatitis A Surveillance in the United States for 2018 | CDCChicken pox- this is primarily to protect community spread especially to immunocomprised and elderly who may not be immune, not so much for the kids. It is nice to not miss a week + of school & work and not have to worry about scars or secondary bacterial infections in the lesions.
Rotavirus- this was not made for the USA it was made for the developing world where > 500,000 kids died yearly from this virus due to malnutrition status and lack of IV access. We just slapped it on the schedule due to good safety data over TIME and it has decreased the risk of hospitalization by 80% for gastro.
COVID- in children with no risk factors the risk of severe infection is tiny. If the data supports that the low dose vaccine gives durable immunity with low risk of severe side effects AND decreases risk of spread then I think universal use is for the best in a few years. Right now there is no data to support the decreased risk of spread (it likely will) and only 3100 kids makes it hard to rule out serious adverse effects.
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