{"id":50058,"date":"2022-07-05T13:35:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T20:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=50058"},"modified":"2022-07-05T13:35:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T20:35:59","slug":"californias-youngest-kids-at-acute-risk-from-covid-19-vaccines-offer-best-protection-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=50058","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s Youngest Kids at Acute Risk from Covid-19 \u2014 Vaccines Offer Best Protection Around"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Mark Hedin<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Vaccinating<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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More than two years after Covid-19\u2019s onset, there is finally a federally approved vaccine against it in the United States for children age 6 months to 4 years old.<\/p>\n

Covid has become the fifth-leading cause of death among kids between the ages of 1 and 4, and the fourth-leading cause among those younger than 1.<\/p>\n

California already has 400,000 doses to distribute, free and regardless of insurance or immigration status, and has bought enough for all 2.2 million newly eligible children in the state, according to Dr. Lucia Abascal, of the California Department of Health.<\/p>\n

Abascal spoke at a\u00a0June 23 press briefing<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0organized by Ethnic Media Services and\u00a0Vaccinate All 58<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the\u00a0California Department of Public Health<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Joining her were Dr. Jennifer Miller, of East Bay Pediatrics in Berkeley, and Dr. Sarah Takekawa, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente in South Sacramento.<\/p>\n

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Because federal law prohibits pharmacies from vaccinating children younger than 3, Abascal said, families must contact their doctors directly to arrange a vaccination, or go to\u00a0https:\/\/myturn.ca.gov\/<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0if they don\u2019t have one.<\/p>\n

The state has already made arrangements with enough pediatricians to provide for 85% of those 2.2 million newly eligible kids, Abascal said.<\/p>\n

Two versions of the pediatric vaccine, one made by Moderna, the other by Pfizer, were approved in mid-June after independent, federal and state reviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis vaccine is going to be the most heavily studied vaccine in history,\u201d noted Dr. Miller. \u201cThey\u2019ve been properly tested and vetted. The production didn\u2019t cut any corners.\u201d Moderna\u2019s version is a quarter the strength of its adult dose and administered in two injections, a month apart. Pfizer\u2019s takes three shots, the second 21 days after the first, the third 60 days after the second. It\u2019s a tenth the strength of the adult version.<\/p>\n

Abascal said it seems likely there will eventually be a booster for the Moderna regimen, but its lower initial dosage should also reduce side effects which, she added, would not be severe.<\/p>\n

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All three doctors said that, in their view, the best vaccine to get is simply whichever is available first, that there are no significant differences between them.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Covid vaccinations, Miller said her patient families generally have one of three different attitudes: \u201cThe first group are beating my door down, anxious to get their children vaccinated,\u201d she said. The second are having second thoughts and \u201cdon\u2019t feel confident about moving forward until they have more answers\u2026 The third just don\u2019t feel it\u2019s safe or necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision not to vaccinate is the decision to get the Covid virus,\u201d Abascal warned. \u201cThere\u2019s no predicting how severe that will be. You are taking a chance that it will be mild, however, one in five hospitalized children end up in the ICU (intensive care unit).\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that having been infected with Covid provides a degree of immunity from further infection, she said, but it\u2019s less than that provided by the vaccines. When her recently infected 19-month-old daughter gets well enough to be vaccinated, she said, she\u2019ll have the strongest protection possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this idea that Omicron is milder,\u201d she said, \u201cbut in this age group, when the Omicron surge started, there were record hospitalizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five times as many as during the previous \u201cDelta\u201d Covid surge for kids younger than 4, Dr. Miller noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to remind them that we are in this together,\u201d Dr. Miller added. \u201cGetting our children vaccinated helps us all; it improves the health of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a gynecologist, Takekawa spoke of having witnessed unvaccinated Covid patients\u2019 struggles during pregnancy and childbirth, and contrasted that with what she\u2019d observed of her own and her patients\u2019 ability to both become pregnant and bear children \u2014 with no issues related to getting vaccinated or boosted.<\/p>\n

Both Abascal, who is pregnant, and Takekawa shared stories of how they and their respective husbands had contracted Covid when their toddlers brought it home from day care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat misconception that kids are safe, that nothing happens to kids, is wrong,\u201d said Abascal. \u201cWe have more and more evidence that kids are at an acute risk\u201d and \u201ccan also suffer consequences such as multi-inflammatory syndrome and long Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren and adolescents need their lives back,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey need to be able to fully gather with friends and peers, go to dances and proms, participate in sports and activities, be fully in school activities and not on Zoom away from their friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of Covid they\u2019ve missed milestones and critical stages of development, leading to an unprecedented mental health crisis. We all need to do our part to bring that to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is normal to be afraid of the unknown and want to protect your child,\u201d Abascal said. \u201cWith that in mind, vaccination is the best protection around.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByMark Hedin June 26, 2022 Ethnic...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50059,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50058\/revisions\/50059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}