Parents need to act now to fully vaccinate children before school starts

Primary tabs

Mon, 2021-06-28 17:19 — mike kraft

To fully vaccinate children against Covid-19 by the time school starts, many parents must act now While it's a bit of a bummer to think about going back to school before it's even the Fourth of July, in many parts of the country, if you want your child to be immunized against Covid-19 by the time classes start, you need to act fast. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent CNN

(CNN) While it's a bit of a bummer to think about going back to school before it's even the Fourth of July, in many parts of the country, if you want your child to be immunized against Covid-19 by the time classes start, you need to act fast.

Many large school systems -- including Atlanta, Fort Myers, Florida, Flagstaff, Arizona, and the entire state of Hawaii -- start school in the first two weeks of August.

It takes five weeks to be fully vaccinated with Pfizer's vaccine, the only one authorized for adolescents ages 12 to 17. That means, for example, Atlanta students need to get their first shot by July 1 to be fully immunized by the first day of school on August 5.

"Get them vaccinated. Vaccine provides, without a doubt, the best protection against Covid, and we want our schools to be safe and we want our children to go back to school," said Dr.

William Schaffner, a longtime vaccine adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We have two grandchildren in that age group, and they have been vaccinated, so do not only as I say, but do as my family has done." ...

Among adolescent boys ages 12 to 17, CDC researchers estimate that for every 1 million second-dose vaccinations, 5,700 Covid-19 cases, 215 hospitalizations, 71 intensive care unit admissions and two deaths would be prevented. It's estimated there might be 56 to 69 myocarditis cases.

Schaffner said he understood that the myocarditis risk might make parents nervous, but that the risk of Covid-19 should make them much more nervous. ...

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags: