VAX PUSH SHOULDN’T JUST FOCUS ON YOUNG

As soon as today — after exhaustive studies showing the shots’ value in protecting the young from the worst consequences of coronavirus disease — federal authorities may authorize emergency use of both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5 and under. The San Diego UnionTribune Editorial Board urges parents and guardians to do the responsible thing, heed the experts and get their minor children of all ages vaccinated.

But a case can be made that a major focus should also be put on vaccinations for older Americans who are more at dire risk from a coronavirus infection than the young. This concern isn’t just about the one in six U.S. adults who have never been fully vaccinated. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows previous hopes — that the initial two shots of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that tens of millions of Americans received last year would provide long-lasting coronavirus immunity — have been dashed. Instead, adults who have not subsequently had an additional booster vaccine are now at the same risk of a moderately serious illness from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as those who were never vaccinated at all. Yet only about 30 percent of the most vulnerable Americans — those aged 65 and over — are fully boosted.

This is why pending outreach campaigns should also tout booster shots, not just initial shots for kids 5 and under. Still — with 100,000-plus new U.S. cases being reported a day and with growing fears about “long COVID” coming back to haunt the previously infected — it shouldn’t take a government nudge to get people to do the right thing for themselves, their families and their communities.