The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the nation and the world for the past 2 years.

The deadly virus spread so quickly, a vaccine was needed urgently. While adults and teens are able to get a vaccine, they do not make up our entire population. Children 5 through 11 years old have not had a verified vaccine for the majority of the pandemic, but Pfizer BioNTech has worked night and day to create a safe and trustworthy one.

According to the CDC, approximately 8,300 COVID-19 cases in children 5 through 11 years old have resulted in hospitalization. Children all over the U.S. are at risk to catch and even die from this life-taking virus.

Extensive studies and research has been done to ensure that the vaccine for children is safe and effective. The vaccine trials were 90.7% effective in preventing COVID-19 in children 5 through 11.

It is understandable that parents would be worried about any serious side effects that may occur due to the vaccine, but they can rest assured that none have been found. According to the FDA, the vaccine’s safety was studied in approximately 3,100 children ages 5 through 11 who received the vaccine and no serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said “As a mother and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been waiting for today’s authorization. . Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will bring us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy.”

We must trust the authorization and vaccinate the community, from 5 to 80 years old, in order to finally return to the world we knew before COVID. The world where children could play with friends, and parents wouldn’t need to worry about whether they would come home with this deadly virus. Children could be raised in a world where they can breathe in the fresh air without a mask suffocating them and concealing their youthful smiles.

The new vaccine for children is specially constructed for their age, to ensure dose safety. The CDC states thatCOVID-19 pediatric vaccines are configured specifically for use in children.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 through 11 years old is administered in two doses, and each dose will be given three weeks apart. The doses in the children’s vaccine is much lower than the doses used for 12 through 17 year olds. The children’s dose contains 10 micrograms, while the dose for teens contains 30 micrograms.

Weekly COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates among children and adolescents rose nearly five-fold during late June–mid-August 2021. With the Delta and the new Omicron variants, children are at risk more now than ever. This vaccine could especially help kids who have preexisting health conditions, and will be less aggressive to them than contracting the virus naturally.

In the U.S., COVID-19 cases in children ages 5 through 11 years old make up about 39% of cases in individuals under the age of 18. Parents and guardians owe it to their children to take responsibility and get them vaccinated. Everyday the vaccine is saving lives all over the world, and it could save their child’s life as well.

The COVID-19 children’s vaccine will help the entire community, but more importantly it will protect children all over the country, who are unable to combat the virus on their own. Distributing the children’s vaccine can help save the youth of the U.S. and our future leaders.

The FDAa approved Pfizer’s vaccine for kids 5-11 on October 29. This is unacceptable for kids at such young ages. Instead of vaccinating children who are still undeveloped, we should be vaccinating more of the adult population.

President and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. James Hildreth, said “In some ways we’re vaccinating children to protect adults, and it should be the other way around. “Our focus should be on vaccinating adults to protect the children,”

Other reasons are that parents are being cautious of the vaccine for their young children, worrying how it will affect them. One of the most prominent side effects is called myocarditis. A swelling of the heart muscle that can also be caused by COVID-19. Myocarditis after vaccination has been seen mainly in male adolescents and adults after their second dose of the vaccine.

Although it is understandable why parents want the vaccine for their children to keep them safe while they’re in school, we need to be concerned about how the children’s health will be affected.
Some parents are concerned about the older group that have had issues with myocarditis. Some parents are not planning to vaccinate kids who have several life threatening food allergies. Their concern is that these kids will potentially react to the vaccine as an allergic reaction.

There are other reasons children 5-11 years old should not be vaccinated. Firstly, if a child who has already been infected with COVID-19, they carry some protection against the virus and are less likely to fall seriously ill. Also, severe illness, deaths, and prolonged COVID symptoms are rare among healthy children. Major systems in the body of a young child are also impacted by the vaccine and can affect major organs as well. This is very concerning from a parental perspective.

Overall, a vaccine provides more predictable protection than the infection, however, a natural infection may offer better protection against other variants.