‘The best day in the history of days’
US parents excited about prospect of vaccines for kids
MISSION, Kan. — After more than a year of fretting over her 13-year son with a rare liver disease, Heather Ousley broke into tears when she learned that he and millions of other youngsters could soon be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This day is the best day in the history of days!!! I love this day!!!” she texted, joining other parents and educators in welcoming the news that the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s vaccine by next week for children ages 12 to 15.
Ousley, president of the school board for the 27,000-student Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas, plans to get her 13and 15-year-olds promptly vaccinated and then celebrate with ice cream. They have been learning from home with their younger brother since the start of the outbreak.
Pfizer is also anticipating the FDA will endorse use of its vaccine in even younger children this fall. And results are expected by the middle of this year from a U.S. study of Moderna’s shots in 12- to 17-year-olds.
Officials are hoping that extending vaccinations to children will drive down the nation’s caseload even further and allow schools to reopen with minimal disruption this fall.
It could also reassure parents and teachers alike. While children rarely get seriously ill from the coronavirus, they can still get sick and spread it to others.
Pfizer in March released preliminary results from a study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, showing
there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated children compared with 18 among those given dummy shots.
That is welcome news for Robin and Aaron Perry of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, who have five boys, ages 5 to 17. Their oldest, Cooper, has been battling leukemia and contracted COVID-19 in November, in what his mother described as a “terrifying” time for the family. The disease spread to the rest of the family.
They all pulled through, and Cooper and his parents have all since been vaccinated. But his mother can’t wait for her 15-year-old, Reece, and 12-year-old, Tucker, to get their shots so their brother is as protected as possible.
“It feels like more security around Cooper with
a compromised immune system,” Robin Perry said. “It’s just being part of the solution. That’s what excites me the most. It’s an added level of protection. Maybe you can take a deeper breath.”
Educators have already embraced vaccines for students 16 and up, with some scheduling vaccine clinics during school hours and dangling prize drawings and other incentives.
In New York’s Erie County, prom-themed vaccination clinics were held last weekend, including one with a tropical feel where health care workers wore grass skirts and 16- and 17-year-olds went home with gift bags of masks and hand sanitizer. Similar efforts are expected to draw in 12- to 15-year-olds.
Dan Domenech, executive
director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, said vaccinating younger students should help parents feel more comfortable about sending their children back to classrooms and ease concerns among some teachers.
“Say you have a class where every student is vaccinated and so is the teacher. That becomes a very different environment,” Domenech said.
Keri Rodrigues, a co-founder of the education advocacy group the National Parents Union, said she rushed out to get vaccinated after becoming eligible but has more trepidation about immunizing her oldest son, who is 13.
She plans to go ahead with it, though, in part because he is demanding it.
“He has cabin fever and he
wants to get out,” explained Rodrigues, who lives near Boston.
The group’s newly released survey from April of 1,151 parents around the country found that others are also conflicted. Forty percent planned to get their children vaccinated immediately, 22% eventually, 23% never, and the remaining 15% were unsure.
“Obviously parents are torn right now because you are watching your kids really go through an emotional struggle, especially our teens,” she said. “I think we are all taking a leap of faith, but I think what we have to do is trust science in this moment.”
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that if the FDA authorizes the use of Pfizer’s vaccine in children as young as 12, the administration is prepared to ship doses to 20,000 pharmacies around the country and directly to pediatricians.
Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the American Camp Association, which accredits 3,200 camps and works with about 12,000 others, said he has been deluged with messages since the news broke.
Last year, 40% of day camps and 82% of overnight camps didn’t operate, but many were gearing up to reopen this summer, with masks and socially distancing, he said. He said the vaccine would offer another layer of protection and might persuade some hesitant parents to sign up their children.
“It could be a game changer,” said Rosenberg, who plans to get his own 13-year-old vaccinated.