‘We are here to answer your questions’: CDC director urges parents to get their children vaccinated

On Good Morning America Wednesday morning, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky urged parents to take their children to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.

“Go talk to your pediatrician, your trusted healthcare provider, your pharmacist and get the information that you need as we start scaling up vaccines across this country,” said Walensky, who was chief of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital before taking her current position with the CDC.

A version of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC in the past week and was endorsed by Walensky Tuesday; it will now be widely distributed across the country in the coming days.

The dose available for this age group is a third of the normal vaccine amount, and has been proven to be 90.5% effective, according to the FDA. During the clinical trials, children only experienced mild side effects similar to those adults had, the most common one being a sore arm. 

But according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Vaccine Monitor from October, only 27% of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds were eager to let their children get it. 

Others reported that they would wait to see how it works or simply not get their children vaccinated. The main reasons and concerns, KFF reports, is the uncertainty of the vaccine such as the unknown long-term effects or serious side effects. Walensky encouraged parents who have questions to speak with healthcare professionals that may help them understand the vaccine better. 

Earlier in the week, healthcare officials, including Brown Emergency Medicine ER physician Dr. Megan Ranney, took to Twitter to explain the importance of getting children vaccinated and also addressed some of the concerns from parents.

Those who are worried about myocarditis, a rare heart condition, in children should be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, Ranney wrote, as COVID-19 is 16 times more likely than the vaccine to cause myocarditis in children. 

The vaccination effort for younger children will also help keep them in schools, as outbreaks will begin to lessen and the spread of the virus will be minimized, doctors argue. However, KFF reports that approximately 53% of parents are worried that schools may begin to mandate the vaccine now that it is widely available to most children. 

The decision to get children vaccinated comes as the overall vaccine pace has slowed down among adults. KFF reported that 72% of adults reported getting at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was the same number as that of last month. As the holiday season approaches and families start to gather, Walensky also urges those who are eligible to get vaccinated to do so if they haven’t yet. 

“Make sure adults and all eligible people in the household are vaccinated because that will absolutely be among the safest things that you can do … as more and more people around the table are vaccinated, it’ll be safer,” Walensky said.

Watch Walensky’s appearance below:

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com