Connecticut doctors urge young children to get COVID vaccinations as school year begins – Hartford Courant

Doctors are urging parents who are taking a wait-and-see approach to vaccinate their young children against COVID-19 to get vaccinated before schools reopen.

“We want families to be vaccinated, especially before returning to school, where children will be in close proximity and some of the mask and distancing requirements will be extended this school year. “We know it won’t be done,” said Jody Terranova, pediatrician at UConn Health and president-elect of the Connecticut chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “It’s important to provide as much protection as possible.”

Since the COVID vaccine was approved for ages 6 months to 4 years in June, taking shots dullAs of August 16, 14,506 children, or just 7.9%, had received at least one dose, according to state health department statistics. Pfizer’s vaccine for infants requires her 3 doses and Moderna’s vaccine requires her 2 doses.

Parents of children in the older group are keen to get those children vaccinated because they want to get back to feeling normal, says Terranova. In the early stages of, for example, the appointment slot filled A few minutes after being available. As of August 16, approximately 98,000 (49.5%) 5-9 year olds and 155,000 (72.5%) 10-14 year olds in Connecticut have received at least one dose. state data.

With fewer mandatory COVID precautions, it seems less urgent for younger children.

“I think the older kids got it because their parents were waiting for it and they wanted those kids to be able to go back to school, back to sports, back to activities.” has come at a more restricted time,” Terranova said. “People were really looking for a vaccine to get back to normal.”

Now, “people aren’t convinced it’s necessary to get back to normal, or they’ve been doing what they should be doing, but they don’t see it as an important factor in doing normal activities. [even though] The risk of COVID is still there,” she said. “We are still seeing a lot of COVID, and we are still seeing children suffering long-term COVID complications.

“We are just trying to strike a balance and show parents that the vaccine is very safe. Let’s consider it.”

a Research by the Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccination for children under 5 years and children 5–11 years peaked nationally two weeks after qualification, but about 2.7 million children aged 5–11 (9.3%) ) had received their first inoculation by peak. Only 283,000 children under the age of 5, or 1.4%.

Kaiser survey issued in July Most parents of newly targeted young children with COVID vaccines were reluctant to get vaccinated, with 43% saying they would never get it.

Additional 10% they said they would get Their children were vaccinated as soon as possible, but 27% wanted to ‘wait and see’ how it would work for other young children, and 13% wanted it in school if needed. They were less enthusiastic, such as stating that only children would be vaccinated. Or parenting.

If your child gets the coronavirus Unlikely It can develop more serious illnesses than adults, doctors warn parents that it can lead to hospitalization even in children. , an average of 21 children hospitalized Per day with COVID in Connecticut.

Ian Michelow, PhD, Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, said: “It’s not a common complication, but the reality is that even a young child can get severe his COVID. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

As school reopeningsaid Michelow, it’s also important to remember the health of immunocompromised children and their families.

“It’s not just severe cases, it’s a widespread problem in schools, because there are children with weakened immune systems and those who are at risk of serious illness,” he said. “We want to protect our entire community of students, teachers and families, because when the infection spreads, we can bring it back to the elderly.”

A long COVID is a risk for children. July Research published in JAMA Network Open Ten percent of children hospitalized with COVID were found to have persistent symptoms such as fatigue, weakness and shortness of breath after three months.

About 5% of children treated and discharged from the emergency department developed symptoms after 3 months. In this study, from March 2020 through January 2021, he examined her 1,884 COVID-positive children at 36 hospitals. Discovered research.

Several Connecticut health systems, including Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health, Started the long COVID A treatment program to help children with the condition.

A long COVID isn’t the only concern.a Recent research The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that children and adolescents diagnosed with COVID are at increased risk of type 1 diabetes, blood clots, heart disease and kidney failure.

CDC Researcher Electronic health record review About 800,000 U.S. children up to age 17 who were infected with COVID between 2020 and 2022 were compared with about 2.5 million children who were uninfected during the same period. They found that young people diagnosed with COVID were about twice as likely to develop blood clots in their lungs and about twice as likely to have myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy, a disease that makes it more difficult for the heart to function properly. or venous thrombosis — the year after illness, Fortune Report.

“We have a clinic in Connecticut Children’s and get constant referrals for all sorts of problems involving different organs of the body, including neurological problems,” Michelow said. increase. “It cannot be overemphasized that this is straining children, and it manifests itself in so many different ways that we are not very good at dealing with it. The respiratory system, diabetes, and other problems found in these children are a very complex group.

“Indeed, there is evidence that vaccines help prevent these long-term complications. And if we can prevent children from getting these infections, we can prevent these kinds of complications.”

Terranova says that if parents are comfortable sharing personal stories of their child’s illness, including on social media, they can help others understand how COVID is affecting their children. recommended to

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State Department of Public Health Plans to Dispatch mobile vaccination unit in Connecticut’s 36 worst-performing school districts, known as Alliance districts. Youth camp school administrators, childminders and officials in non-Alliance districts can also request a free mobile vaccination clinic via email. [email protected] Also [email protected] (For district administrators).

Michael Bolduc, vaccine coordinator for the state’s immunization program, said: “What we saw was over 100,000 children in hospital. [aged] 0 to 17 years old. Also, over 400 of her children under the age of 5 have died from her COVID. that’s too much. One too many children have died from COVID.

“There are vaccines that are safe and effective.

Parents can consult or visit their child’s pediatrician to get the vaccine vaccine.goventer your zip code to find a clinic near you.

Jenna Carlesso I am a reporter for the Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2022 © Connecticut Mirror.