BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Dr Stephen Turkovich, Chief Medical Officer at Oishei Children's Hospital, joined WBEN Tuesday morning to discuss the latest data on the forthcoming Covid vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds.
He started by bringing us up to date on the current Covid picture with children in Buffalo. "We currently have four children in the hospital with Covid. One is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)," said Dr. Turkovich. "For the month of September, thus far, eleven children have been admitted along with four pregnant women. All of those admitted, who were eligible to be vaccinated, have not been fully vaccinated. And parents of the younger children had not been vaccinated," he said.
In the 18 months since the start of the pandemic, Oishei Childen's Hospital has treated 40 children in the ICU.
"The children that seem to get the sickest and require ICU care are teenagers," said Turkovich. However, over the course of the pandemic,
the hospital has treated patients for Covid from three weeks old
through late teens.
With news that the Pfizer vaccine could be available for 5 to 11 year olds, possibly by Halloween, some very tough decisions are at hand for parents; possibly tougher decisions than they had to make for themselves.
"When it's approved by the Food and Drug Administration, I am absolutely
going to get my children vaccinated," said Turkovich. "The CDC and FDA
have a very clear, proven process that will look at all of the data, both from within their organizations and from independent advisory panels. They are looking at all of the data concerning safety and efficacy."
In the Pfizer study of 23-hundred children between 5 and 11 years old, they did not see any serious safety events.
Earlier this year, you may recall a condition with young people and the vaccine, myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart. The recent Pfizer trials did not see any of that in the study of 5-11 year olds. "It's good news that they didn't see it. If it were to occur, it would be very, very rare," said Turkovich.
The top doctor at Children's hospital also points out, that young people have a higher risk of getting myocarditis from Covid, rather than from the vaccine in children over 12.
His best advice for parents, "have the conversation with your pediatrician. They can put your child's clinical care and history into context and answer your questions and concerns. "I have 100% confidence in the FDA and CDC
and once it's approved my children will be vaccinated."
The vaccine dose for adults is 30 micrograms. The dose for children between 5 and 11 is 10 micrograms, or one third of the adult dose. "They tested a few different intervals. And looking at the safety, efficacy and neutralizing antibodies, this was the sweet spot at 10 micrograms," said Turkovich.
"Kids have a really good immune system. They're going to develop a robust immune response based upon a lower dose." He said it is a two dose series just like the Pfizer vaccine that is currently available, separated by three weeks.
