My Toddlers Already Had COVID-19. I ’m Still Getting Them Vaccinated Right Away

Six months ago, in the hustle and bustle of Christmas activities, I quickly swabbed my girls’ noses (and my own) for COVID-19. They are 3 years old and 1.5 years old. No one had symptoms, but we were going to see their great-grandpa and wanted to be extra careful. As an epidemiologist, I knew we were in the middle of a COVID-19 tsunami, kids are fantastic silent transmitters of COVID-19, and older adults are at the highest risk for severe breakthrough infections. Fifteen minutes later and much to my surprise, my girls’ tests indicated that they were positive. (My husband and I got a booster one month prior, and never tested positive). Needless to say, our plans changed. Instead of gathering with family, we spent Christmas at home with snotty noses, fevers, no appetites, and a very tired mama. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] A version of this played out for millions of families across the U.S. While we were fortunate to experience only moderate symptoms, others were not so lucky. During this wave, COVID-19 hospitalizations among children under 5 years old surged more than any other pediatric age group. Eighty-six percent of these hospitalizations were for COVID-19 (opposed to with COVID-19). Hospitalizations of young children surpassed previous influenza peaks and far surpassed previous COVID-19 peaks. Of toddlers hospitalized for COVID-19, 1 in 4 went to the ICU. This wave significantly added to the COVID-19 death toll of toddlers, and now more than 4...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 freelance nationpod Source Type: news