• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
BlackDoctor.org
Where Wellness & Culture Connect

Where Wellness & Culture Connect

  • Health Conditions
  • Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Longevity
  • COVID-19
  • Find A Doctor
  • Subscribe
Home / Health Conditions / COVID-19 / Pediatricians Want Kids to Be Part of COVID Vaccine Trials; Here’s what you should know

Pediatricians Want Kids to Be Part of COVID Vaccine Trials; Here’s what you should know

The COVID vaccines are rolling out quickly, in fact, according to the CDC over 20 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. However, these numbers do not include children, and many beginning to wonder when will children be able to get vaccinated and when? The answers to those questions require children to participate in Covid clinical trials. Here’s what you should know.

If clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines aren’t expanded soon to include children, it’s unlikely that even kids in their teens will be vaccinated in time for the next school year.

The hurdle is that COVID vaccine makers are only in the early stages of testing their products on children. The Pfizer vaccine authorized for use by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday was greenlighted only for people ages 16 and up. Moderna just started trials for 12- to 17-year-olds for its vaccine, likely to be authorized later this month.

It will take months to approve use of the vaccines for middle- and high school-aged kids, and months more to test them in younger children. But some pediatricians say that concerns about the safety of the front-runner vaccines make the wait worthwhile.

You May Also Like
9 Foods You Should Never Eat after Age 30

Although most pediatricians believe the eventual vaccination of children will be crucial to subduing the COVID virus, they’re split on how fast to move toward that, says Dr. James Campbell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health. Campbell and colleagues say it’s a matter of urgency to get the vaccines tested in kids, while others want to hold off on those trials until millions of adults have been safely vaccinated.

Much of the debate centers on two issues: the degree of harm COVID-19 causes children and the extent to which children are spreading the virus to their friends, teachers, parents, and grandparents.

COVID-19’s impact on children represents a tiny fraction of the suffering and death experienced by vulnerable adults. Yet it would qualify as a pretty serious childhood disease, having caused 154 deaths and more than 7,500 hospitalizations as of Dec. 3 among people 19 and younger in the United States. Those numbers rank it as worse than a typical year of influenza, and worse than diseases like mumps or hepatitis B in children before the vaccination era.

Studies thus far show that 1%-2% of children infected with the virus end up requiring intensive care, Dr. Stanley Plotkin, professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, told a federal panel. That’s in line with the percentage who become gravely ill as a result of infections like Haemophilus influenza type B, or Hib, for which doctors have vaccinated children since the 1980s, he pointed out.

You May Also Like
The Most Common STD You've Never Heard Of

Campbell, who with colleagues has developed a plan for how to run pediatric COVID vaccine trials, points out that “in a universe where COVID mainly affected children the way it’s affecting them now, and we had potential vaccines, people would be clamoring for them.”

The evidence that teens can transmit the disease is pretty clear, and transmission has been documented in children as young as 8. Fear of spread by children has been enough to close schools, and led the American Academy of Pediatrics to demand that children be quickly included in vaccine testing.

“The longer we take to start kids in trials, the longer it will take them to get vaccinated and to break the chains of transmission,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University who chairs the AAP’s infectious disease committee. “If you want kids to go back to school and not have the teachers union terrified, you have to make sure they aren’t a risk.”

Other pediatricians worry that early pediatric trials could backfire. Dr. Cody Meissner, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts Medical Center and a member of the FDA’s advisory committee on vaccines, is worried that whatever causes Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, a rare but frightening COVID-related disorder, might also be triggered, however rarely, by vaccination.

Continue Reading

The Latest In COVID-19

8 clever ways to get Vaccinated RIGHT NOW

As more states roll out their vaccination program, many persons are anxious to know if they qualify and how to get vaccinated as soon as possible. To make sure you’re in line for those important injections, here’s what you need read more about 8 clever ways to get Vaccinated RIGHT NOW

C.D.C. Finds Covid Outbreaks in Gyms

  Federal health officials found that coronavirus cases at fitness centers in Chicago and Honolulu were caused by misuse of masks and carelessness about symptoms. Gym members and guests are supposed to wear masks when they work out and keep read more about C.D.C. Finds Covid Outbreaks in Gyms

Double Jeopardy: COVID-19 and Type 1 Diabetes

Living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be challenging. Every day you must make choices that will affect your diabetes and your life. This is particularly true when you are sick. If not cared for properly, even a minor cold read more about Double Jeopardy: COVID-19 and Type 1 Diabetes

Variants of the virus could cause COVID surge the Spring

New variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are circulating globally and in the U.S. The emergence and rapid spread of at least three coronavirus variants has intensified the need to further understand how the novel coronavirus mutates and read more about Variants of the virus could cause COVID surge the Spring
Protecting myself

The Do’s and Don’t’s After Getting The Coronavirus Vaccine

As the coronavirus vaccine gets rolled out, persons have a lot of questions. One that pops up often is “Can we go back to how things were now?”. The answer is a complicated one. While getting the vaccine is an read more about The Do’s and Don’t’s After Getting The Coronavirus Vaccine

The “Wait and See” COVID-19 Vaccine Group

There are many people that remain skeptical about the COVID 19 vaccine. This group of people has hesitancy about receiving the vaccine despite information that it is effective and side effects are expected, but minimal. The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor read more about The “Wait and See” COVID-19 Vaccine Group

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to our newsletter

Poll

Popular Posts

  • 7 Bad Sleep Habits That Cause Weight Gain7 Bad Sleep Habits That Cause Weight Gain
  • Home Remedies For Your Dry SkinHome Remedies For Your Dry Skin
  • Pooch Hall: Family Over EverythingPooch Hall: Family Over Everything
  • ‘Madea’ Actress Natalie Desselle-Reed Dies at 53'Madea' Actress Natalie Desselle-Reed Dies at 53
  • 7 Turnoffs Men Wish Women Knew7 Turnoffs Men Wish Women Knew

Podcast

Diabetes prevention and management podcast

Dr. LeNoir is joined by Dr. Lenore Coleman, a Pharmacist and Founder of Healing Our Village, as they offer you the tools you need to prevent and manage diabetes.

Listen Now

Footer

Where Wellness & Culture Connect

BDO is the world’s largest and most comprehensive online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans. BDO understands that the uniqueness of Black culture - our heritage and our traditions - plays a role in our health. BDO gives you access to innovative new approaches to the health information you need in everyday language so you can break through the disparities, gain control and live your life to its fullest.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Learn More About

  • Hepatitis C
  • Diabetes
  • Sickle Cell
  • Mental Health
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • BlackDoctor.org Advertising and Sponsorship Policy
  • Daily Vitamina
  • TBH

Copyright © 2021, BlackDoctor, Inc. All rights reserved.