New vaccine creates optimism for immunity among children under 5

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

Now that a vaccine has been approved for children as the last group of Americans to be recommended for a COVID-19 vaccine, the questions becomes whether parents will let their children get the shot.

Pediatricians in general are pleased with last week’s announcement by White House officials that medication is now available for children younger than 5 years old. It’s not clear if the timing is enough to stop any spread, as children go into their first summer with less fear than they had two years ago.

Millions of children are expected to participate in summer camps, travel and spend time with family – things they haven’t done much of in the last two summers. While the timing might not be enough to create significant immunity before the end of summer, parents who allow their kids to get the shot should be at ease about the upcoming school year.

“It could give kids some immunity before they go back to school,” said Dr. Mary Norton, a practicing physician at FSU PrimaryHealth, a unit of the College of Medicine.

“I think for those families that have children that are much younger, this will be a major relief to have access to something that would provide some protection to their children.

“I think for all those who require vaccine this will be welcome news.”

According to an Associated Press report last week, a recent survey suggests only 1 in 5 parents of young children would get their kids vaccinated right away. Fewer than one-third of children ages 5 to 11 have gotten the two recommended doses, according to the government.

“Part of the problem with COVID, because it has affected every aspect of our society, is it’s hard to pin down exactly what is causing this,” said Dr. Daniel Van Durme, senior associate dean for clinical and community affairs.

Norton, a pediatrician and mother of four children between the ages of 11 months and 7 years old, said she noticed a spike in cases involving children in the spring. She suspected that was in part because of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus.

Norton was concerned that not too many parents with children younger than 5 wouldn’t want to give them the vaccine.

“There is a lot of vaccine hesitancy,” she said. “This has just skyrocketed and there are many concerns about what’s in the vaccine.”