Worried Parents Scramble to Vaccinate Kids Despite FDA Guidance

Sept. 29, 2021 -- One week aft reporting promising results from the proceedings of their COVID-19 vaccine successful children ages 5 to 11, Pfizer and BioNTech announced they’d submitted the information to the FDA. But that hasn’t stopped immoderate parents from discreetly getting their children nether property 12 vaccinated.

“The FDA, you ne'er privation to get up of their judgment,” Anthony Fauci, MD, manager of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told MSNBC connected Tuesday. “But I would ideate successful the adjacent fewer weeks, they volition analyse that information and hopefully they’ll springiness the OK truthful that we tin commencement vaccinating children, hopefully earlier the extremity of October.”

Lying to Vaccinate Now

More than fractional of each parents with children nether 12 accidental they program to get their kids vaccinated, according to a Gallup poll. Among those who accidental they’re “very worried” oregon “somewhat worried” astir their children catching COVID, that fig goes up to 90% and 72%, respectively.

And though the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics person warned against it, immoderate parents whose kids tin walk for 12 person lied to get them vaccinated already.

Dawn G. is simply a ma of 2 successful southwest Missouri, wherever little than 45% of the colonisation has been afloat vaccinated. Her lad turns 12 successful aboriginal October, but in-person schoolhouse started successful mid-August.

“It was scary, reasoning of him going to schoolhouse for adjacent 2 months,” she says. “Some parents thought their kid had a debased accidental of getting COVID, and their kid died. Nobody expects it to beryllium them.”

In July, she and her hubby took their lad to a walk-in session and lied astir his age.

“So galore things tin happen, from bullying to schoolhouse shootings, and present this added pandemic risk,” she says. “I’ll bash thing I tin to support my child, and a birthdate seems truthful arbitrary. He’ll beryllium 12 successful a substance of weeks. It seems ridiculous that that day would halt maine from protecting him.”

In bluish California, Carrie S. had a akin thought. When the vaccine was authorized for kids ages 12-15 successful May, the older of her 2 children got the changeable close away. But her youngest doesn’t crook 12 until November.

“We were tempted to get the younger 1 vaccinated successful May, but it didn’t look similar a rush. We were consenting to hold to get the dosage right,” she says. “But arsenic Delta came through, determination were nary options for online school, the CDC was dropping disguise expectations -- it seemed similar the satellite was acceptable to hide the pandemic was happening. It seemed similar the least-bad enactment to get her vaccinated truthful she could spell backmost to school, and we could find immoderate equilibrium of hazard successful our lives.”

Adult vs. Pediatric Doses

For now, experts counsel against getting younger children vaccinated, adjacent those who are the size of an adult, due to the fact that of the mode the quality immune system develops.

“It’s not truly astir size,” said Anne Liu, MD, an immunologist and pediatrics prof astatine Stanford University School of Medicine. “The immune strategy behaves otherwise astatine antithetic ages. Younger kids thin to person a much exuberant innate immune system, which is the portion of the immune strategy that senses danger, adjacent earlier it has developed a representation response.”

The big Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine contains 30 micrograms (mcg) of mRNA, portion the pediatric dose is conscionable 10 mcg. That smaller dose produces an immune effect akin to what’s seen successful adults who person 30 mcg, according to Pfizer.

“We were 1 of the sites that was progressive successful the signifier I trial, a batch of times that's called a dose-finding trial,” says Michael Smith, MD, a co-investigator for the COVID vaccine trials done astatine Duke University. “And basically, if younger kids got a higher dose, they had much of a reaction, truthful it wounded more. They had fever, they had much redness and swelling astatine the tract of the injection, and they conscionable felt lousy, much than astatine the little doses.”

At this point, with Pfizer’s information showing that younger children request a smaller dose, it doesn’t marque consciousness to prevarication astir your child’s age, says Smith.

“If my 2 options were having my kid get the corruption vs. getting the vaccine, I’d get the vaccine. But we’re a fewer weeks distant from getting the little dose approved successful kids,” helium says. “It’s surely safer. I don’t expect major, lifelong broadside effects from the higher dose, but it's going to hurt, your kid’s going to person a fever, they’re going to consciousness lousy for a mates days, and they conscionable don't request that overmuch antigen.”