Next Turn - Children?: COVID, Vaccination, and Inclusivity

Written By Angela Pineda

When the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use and multiple countries began distributing it among their populations, policymakers and health officials celebrated their tremendous success. However, almost five months later, a key issue seemed to be dismissed initially, began to demonstrate its importance: children became increasingly sick. No vaccine was available to protect anyone under the age of 18 years old. Historically, a vaccine’s efficacy and safety must be first demonstrated among adult populations before beginning to try them among children. This is due to a variety of reasons, but most importantly, it is because children cannot consent for themselves and may react in a very different way from the adult’s body reaction to a vaccine. 

A Shift in Dynamics 

Another reason why clinical trials among children are usually dismissed at early stages is to protect the older and most vulnerable populations. However, as the vaccine became increasingly available and every adult in the US who opted to receive the vaccine had access to it, there was a dynamic shift in what constitutes a vulnerable population. Last month, over 80% of the US senior population, for instance, became fully vaccinated and protected. Simultaneously, the infection rates among children began to increase. In the last week of April, 22.4% of weekly new cases in the US were children aged 18 and younger. Compared to a year ago, this number is approximately 8 times what it used to be. The message is loud and clear: vaccination is shifting the demographics while children are returning back to school and this issue must be addressed immediately.  

The virus is still spreading within communities and expanding to new variants. Thankfully, a huge portion of the population is getting protected daily with the availability of vaccines. However, if children do not become protected soon and continue to witness a rise in cases, new variants may arise. This may hinder our progress and introduce concerns to even those who are protected. Furthermore, there has been a strong call to reopen schools fully to minimize the pause in educational progress for children. If children continue to be unprotected, such plans will be at risk. With increased understanding of the vaccine and with over 100 million adults vaccinated in the US, it is essential to start paying more attention to the younger populations. 

Implications and Policymaking 

Thankfully, these warning signs have not gone unnoticed for far too long. Dr. Sean O'Leary, vice chair of the AAP's Committee on Infectious Diseases and professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Medical Campus and Children's Hospital Colorado, in a recent interview, stated that good news are on the horizon. At the time of writing now, the Pfizer vaccine is approved for anyone aged 12 and older. Moderna’s vaccine is approximately few weeks behind in their clinical trials on children. The goal is to have an effective vaccine approved for all children five years of age or older in the near future. These steps will be a game changer for our progress in the fight with the pandemic.  

Vaccinated children means that children are going to join young adults, adults, and senior citizens in being protected from the current forms of the virus. Additionally, it means that most age subgroups within a population would be protected (except the youngest, for now), and the virus can no longer spread at exponential speeds due to lack of protection. In turn, this minimizes the probability of dangerous variants arising. Moreover, it means we can minimize educational damage to an entire generation – children can now be protected enough to return to school. Families can go back to making summer plans and local trips, significantly improving mental health outcomes among the average individual.  

In retrospect, it is clear to us that leaving children unprotected for this much time was dangerous. However, with a pandemic of this size and a virus that is so foreign to human knowledge. Now that vaccines are being approved for children, we must act quickly. Policies must be put in place to make families feel safe about vaccinating their children and overcome hesitancy. If we act together, we will leave no age group behind.  

Return to in-school learning is vitally important for the healthy development and well-being of students. Protecting their teachers and families is also important. See how Aztute is helping schools to return to school. 

 

References 

 

Angela Pineda
Previous

Third Dose: A Necessity or a Luxury?
Next

Lifting masking requirement for vaccinated individuals: a measured risk or a rushed decision?