LOUISVILLE, Ky. — During Mayor Greg Fischer's Tuesday COVID-19 update, he invited two pediatric specialists to speak on how COVID affects children versus adults and why now is the time for them to get vaccinated.
The big takeaway is that, while many kids who get COVID have milder or asymptomatic cases, it's still something you don't want your child to get.
"For kids 5 and above, this is a vaccine preventable disease," said Dr. Kristina Bryant, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital.
She went on to say that 1 in 100 children with COVID will be admitted to the hospital, and 1 in 3200 children with COVID will get multi-system inflammatory disease, which can be life threatening.
"It's not so common, but you can't predict if that will be your child," said Dr. Bryant.
When vaccines for kids first rolled out, many parents opted to wait and see how it worked for other children before vaccinating their own. But now that more than 16 million kids ages 12 to 17, and more than 8 million kids ages 5 to 11 have gotten vaccinated, Dr. Bryant says there's no longer an excuse to wait.
"We know the vaccine is safe and effective. So, now is the time for parents with questions to get those questions answered," she said.
Vaccination protects against severe disease, and it is uncommon for vaccinated kids to be admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
The CDC released data last week that, during the Omicron wave, unvaccinated teens were 6 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital with COVID than vaccinated teens.
Plus, long COVID doesn't just affect adults, it's seen in children as well. In fact, symptoms seen in children are very similar to those seen in adults: fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, even anxiety and depression.
"Mental health has been a huge component with these children. So, if they're hospitalized for a long period of time or not in school or really sick, the mental impacts of COVID has been astronomical for children," said Dr. Misty Ellis, pediatric acute care nurse practitioner at Kentucky Children’s Hospital and board member of the Kentucky Nurses Association.
The COVID-19 vaccine is now a routinely recommended vaccine for all kids ages 5 and above. According to these health experts, it's better to be safe than sorry.
"If you can protect your child from COVID with a vaccine... do it," said Dr. Bryant.
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