Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Despite being at low risk for serious outcome due to Covid, area doctors are urging teens to get the vaccine when it's their turn.
Pfizer announced Wednesday that trials show its vaccine to be effective for kids 12-15. In the vaccine study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given dummy shots, Pfizer reported.
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"The bottom line is we always wondered about children being asymptomatic carriers of the disease and then when they're around others they might infect others around them," says Dr. Simone Wildes. "For that very small group of children who get it and pass it on to others, that's a big reason why we want to get them vaccinated so we can keep everyone around them safe and healthy as well."
Dr. John Sellick of Kaleida Health says while most of those who have bad outcomes from COVID are older, there are younger patients who suffer with COVID. "We do see some younger kids both with COVID infection and post-coronavirus multiple system inflammation syndrome so we want to protect kids from getting any of those things," says Sellick.
Sellick adds as more older people get the vaccine, COVID will become more common among younger people. "We don't want them to themselves get sick and we don't want them to transmit it to other people who are still at risk of a bad outcome," explains Sellick.
As for those who say so many older people will be getting the vaccine and the CDC saying children are already building immunity that getting the shot would be moot, Sellick those kids will eventually grow up. "Hopefully they will, by process of getting vaccinated, they will get at least some protection upfront, and then depending on how things work out by whether we need booster doses, we will again be able to prevent infection for the older population as well as the younger population," notes Sellick.