Facebook Live session to discuss vaccines for kids

With parents across Chicago and the suburbs scrambling to get COVID19 vaccine shots in their kids’ arms before the start of summer, the Chicago Tribune will talk to the University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Allison Bartlett on Wednesday in a Facebook Live conversation.

The expansion of vaccine eligibility to include kids ages 12 to 15 arrived earlier this month. And while Chicago and suburban school districts will not mandate that students receive the vaccine in order to attend classes in the fall, public health officials have urged parents to get their kids vaccinated, as younger children represent a key demographic for achieving herd immunity.

Children who are vaccinated will be able to enjoy a more carefree summer after having faced steep limitations on their activities since the start of the pandemic, officials said.

Bartlett, whose research includes working to improve the safety and effectiveness of antibiotic use in children, will be answering questions about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, the impact they might have on routine childhood immunizations, what steps families can take to support their children’s physical and emotional health, and more.

The link to the Facebook Live stream will go live on the Tribune’s Facebook page at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Our COVID-19 Q&A is continuously updated. If you have a question that we haven’t answered yet there, send it to chicagotribune.com/ask.