SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – As federal officials anticipate the first COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 years old becoming approved and available as soon as the first day of summer, many of their parents are eagerly anticipating they can rest a little easier.
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Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, the American Academy of Pediatrics infectious disease committee’s chair and a Stanford University professor, told KCBS Radio's "Ask An Expert" on Friday morning that she has heard from "so many families" in the Bay Area "who are really excited to hear" that the youngest children could soon be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
It has been seven months since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization to Pfizer's vaccine for children aged 5-11. In the meantime, the omicron variant and its highly infectious successors have gained a foothold, causing a winter wave exceeding all that came before and a spring spike that caused one Bay Area county to to require masks in public indoor spaces again.
During the omicron variant’s initial surge late last year, children under 5 were hospitalized at much higher rates from the omicron variant than any other point during the pandemic. Maldonado said Friday that vaccination will enable younger children "to experience a normal, healthy development" as the pandemic's third year continues.
“We want them to go to school, we want them to engage in sports and social activities, and we don't want that risk hanging over them that they're gonna get really sick and hospitalized," Maldonado said in an interview on Friday with KCBS Radio's Melissa Culross and Jason Brooks, noting that the primary beneficiaries of vaccination will be the children themselves.
Maldonado emphasized that the vaccine isn't 100% protective of infection, but it can significantly lower the risk of severe disease. That's especially important, according to Maldonado, as long-term complications for children who have recovered from severe COVID-19 are largely unknown.
As older age groups got vaccinated and received booster doses, parents of young children have – as Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Keri Althoff put it a year ago – been "living with one foot in the unvaccinated world." Parents have expressed frustration as federal, state and local officials have shifted away from mask mandates and the under-5 vaccine has been delayed.
But now, Maldonado said, parents of young children have a real chance to gain significant piece of mind sooner rather than later.
"This is coming into the summer vacation months when people want to travel, and they want to feel safe with their children who at this point have not been able to be vaccinated," she said. "So it's certainly an exciting time."
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