Why get kids vaccinated?
Risk is slight, unknowns are high
Over the last year, many Americans have contracted COVID-19. In fact, a visit to the Massachusetts COVID-19 Response Reporting at www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting shows cases among children up to age 18 slightly on the rise.
But before parents panic, the data also show that the average age of those hospitalized with the virus is 63, and the vast majority already have recovered from COVID-19.
Most importantly, Massachusetts is one of 10 states reporting very few hospitalizations and, thankfully, zero deaths for children ages 19 and younger. Most children experience cold and flu symptoms, some little more than the sniffles.
A visit to www.mass.gov/ doc/covid-19-dashboard-august-3-2020/download shows depicts graphics by age.
Interestingly, when I did a search for “CDC, herd immunity,” which these numbers point to, the top two results that pop up are “Vaccine Glossary of Terms/CDC,” and “COVID-19 Vaccines/CDC.” Third down is “Herd Immunity/CDC,” a PDF from 2013, and fourth, “Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines/CDC.”
As a parent with questions, one who has seen that vaccine trials on children are already underway, I want answers. But I’m directed to the following bullet points the CDC thinks I should know:
■ COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
■ You may have side effects after vaccination, but these are normal.
■ It typically takes two weeks after you are fully vaccinated for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19.
■ Vaccines will become widely available in the coming months.
■ Those who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.
After scanning the information, presented in benign form, I would like to think that vaccines rolling out for children are just like the standard vaccines of the past. But these have a new messenger RNA akin to gene therapy. Something very new. Something we’ve collected little data on, especially pertaining to children.
And why is herd immunity not mentioned? Many Americans have tested positive for the virus, which managed to upend jobs, education and travel. In fact, of more than 18 million tests performed in Massachusetts, we see a 2.2% positivity rate. That’s a whole bunch of infected people who were not hospitalized and who have now recovered.
Shouldn’t this data matter to fighting back and building the crucial herd immunity we need? Shouldn’t experts in science drill more deeply and transparently into the ageold phenomenon of herd immunity?
The American public should be able to depend on the science community charged with the responsibility of informing and guiding public health decisions that affect families.
The CDC should provide more up-to-date and accurate information when it comes to herd immunity.
Billions in taxes go to funding the science and research
and, therefore, to educate the citizenry in an effort to keep Americans safe. I’m not against vaccines. All of our children had all of their vaccines. But those vaccines were FDA-approved. These vaccines are not. We should all wonder why there is such an exerted effort to convince everyone to get on board with the idea of these shots, including signing up one’s child for a vaccine that, so far, the CDC can’t show is a beneficent strategy .
nd what all parents might want to ask, especially since the vaccine is now being made available for children as young as 16, is: Why the push to vaccinate a young and healthy population that the science says is least vulnerable to this virus?
While parents wait for that answer, consider inquiring why the rush to indiscriminately vaccinate Americans who, as already mentioned, have recovered from a virus that, in the majority of cases, is a lot like the flu.
It should beg the question for all American parents: Why, right in line with Dr. Anthony Fauci, is the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Rochelle Walensky, playing down the science around herd immunity? After all, the National Institutes of Health and the CDC together are annually receiving tens of billions in taxpayers’ hard-earned money to fund scientific research that should translate into the health and medical decisions directly impacting all of us.
Shouldn’t the data also honestly reflect the science surrounding herd immunity? Herd immunity has been around since the beginning of recorded time and is an integral part of understanding human survival.
Children need to build their immune systems. It’s natural. And if herd immunity is being left out of the conversation as to how we address a serious issue, then we need to ask why it doesn’t seem to make the cut. Everyone everywhere on this planet understands that this sole virus has negatively impacted every single aspect of life without question, and we must be also talking about how the immune response plays a role in our health and welfare.
Haste makes waste, my grandmother used to say. What will be the resulted waste if we’re not careful? Our children? Much of the conversation is around doing the right thing by grandparents, doing our part to be kind to people, or demonstrating socalled unselfish behavior. Everyone wants to show all of those virtues.
I get it, no one wants anyone to suffer. And everyone wants to help fight the scourges this virus has caused. But signaling that shots in the arms of children are the next way to go when we don’t really know if it’s best for them seems like a very hasty move, precisely as you look at the current data.
Parents should get to feel like they’re doing the right and just thing when they demand the facts first. And that includes real numbers on the very real and positive effects of herd immunity.
Parents have a right to ask questions, to do our homework and to ask the tough questions that may not be so popular before we give our vulnerable children to a vaccine we’ve just rolled out in a state of haste.
Bonnie J. Toomey’s stories, essays and poems have been featured in Baystateparent
Magazine, New Hampshire Parents Magazine,
Baystateparent Echo, Penwood Review and Solace in a Book. Ms. Toomey worked as an adjunct at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire where she earned a masters in literacy. Bonnie writes about life in the 21 st century and lives in New Hampshire with her husband. Learn more at www.the deep beauty book.com/writers-2/ bonnie-j-toomey.