ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a letter to the FDA commissioner, just days ago, urging leaders to "work aggressively towards authorizing safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 12 as soon as possible."
According to the CDC, only 32 percent of 12 to 15-year-olds are fully vaccinated. The big concern is rising COVID-19 cases among children with the delta variant. As of Wednesday, there were 19 children hospitalized at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg with COVID-19, 11 kids are in the ICU.
Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Juan Dumois addressed concerns parents may have about getting 12 to 17-year-olds vaccinated. One of the biggest is the possible long-term health effects. He says children have been getting routine vaccinations since the 50s and 60s.
"What we've learned about side effects is that the side effects of most vaccines occur within a couple of months of the vaccine. We don't see 5 year later side effects of these vaccines in general," Dr. Dumois said.
And as far as short-term or rare side effects that have been reported like myocarditis, or swelling of the heart, he says, "The chance of myocarditis is so rare. A teenager in Florida is at least three times more likely to die in a car accident than to get myocarditis, so families who are avoiding giving their kids vaccines because of myocarditis, also should not allow their children in cars."
Dr. Dumois says the COVID-19 vaccine is one of the safest vaccines they've ever seen and the effects of COVID-19 on a child can be worse than you can imagine. Even though hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are still rare in children, he says it's not rare if it happens to your child.