Buried in the news of the triple-demic, an updated Omicron booster was authorized for kids under 5 years old. My weekly Q&A on Instagram has been flooded with questions from parents. Here’s a quick update. Who is eligible for a fall booster? This is very confusing, as it depends on what vaccine series (and how much of that series) they have received:
I love your newsletter. As a physician I am all in on boosters for at risk adults and elderly. However, I am still in the “wait and see”mode for children because of lack of real world effectiveness data and potential risk data . Covid is a disease which very rarely causes serious illness in children.
In my experience, as a grandparent and a physician, getting the booster is hard! So add the "pandemic is over" widespread belief/narrative, to the fact that vaccines tend to be administered in pharmacies now and children under 2 have to see a provider and most pediatric/family medicine offices aren't offering the vaccine and/or booster. Lack of knowledge and inconvenience and the downplaying of risk of infection are all working to lower uptake. IMO. In my state, public health has been largely dismantled, the "pandemic is endemic" narrative the official theme of our local --very hardworking and quite good--health department and yet I'm seeing so much disease. So discouraging.
I absolutely agree that we must make it easier for parents to find these boosters for their kids. I do wish there wasn't so many different formulations of COVID vaccines and different schedules between Moderna and Pfizer. It's really challenging to store all of these vaccines and keep staff trained on them, especially when the demand for them is so low.
YLE - quick question, but crucial -- is there a decent set of data debunking the (considerable) hysteria among certain folks about post vaccine health issues, including lost pregnancies, deaths, kidney issues, etc? What are the experts showing the layfolks to counter the (DeSantis) narrative? Help.
Try searching directly with local pharmacies (Walgreens or CVS) for under 5 boosters. When I searched vaccines.gov I also was only shown a few, distant options. I was willing to travel if needed, so when I clicked on Walgreens to schedule and input my child's age and ZIP, there was actually a much closer location that had it available. I fear the government website is not comprehensive. Hope this helps someone!
It would definitely be interesting to dive deeper into the low uptake and see how much if it can be attributed to lack of information/availability as opposed to knowing it's available, having access to it, and just choosing not to get your child vaccinated.
People should check with their local health departments. I work as a vaccinator with one, and we offer the bivalent COVID vaccine for this youngest age group.
Also, my youngest son tested positive for Type A influenza this past week and was incredibly ill: 7 days of 102-103 fevers, had to go in to be checked for secondary infection, and he had the flu vaccine in September. I’ve never been fond of the phrase “just the flu,” having lost a healthy family member in their early 40s to it years ago. My nurse friends still in the hospital are reporting severe cases of Flu A in otherwise healthy children.
From that CDC report which you linked: "COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Safety Among Children Aged 6 Months–5 Years — United States, June 18, 2022–August 21, 2022"
This is the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph of the summary:
"CDC’s v-safe call center contacts registrants who indicate that medical care was received after vaccination and encourages completion of a VAERS report." Oops, that's not a complete sentence. Looks like the proof reader, if there was one, missed that.
One interesting thing about this report is it gives some details from the V-Safe data. The CDC kept the V-Safe data secret for 2 years, until the lawyer for a major anti-vaxer got a judge to force the CDC to release the data.
The nearest site vaccines.gov shows me is 20+ miles away and none will do kids under 3, but I called the health department that got us our first 2 shots directly and they scheduled us for tomorrow. It will be half an hour of driving each way again.
Is there a minimum amount of time to wait? My 8 month old just had his second moderna a few weeks ago and my two other kids (under 5) had their second dose in Aug or Sept. I don't want to wait out the winter surge, but don't want to jump the gun. Help!
For those interested in reading some new studies on COVID vaccines, there are 2 linked in this article. One of them is about the bivalent booster. The more COVID vaccines taken, the higher the risk of catching COVID. Unvaccinated are at the lowest risk for catching COVID.
I've met many people who did not get COVID until after they got the shots. President Biden got his first COVID shot in December 2020 saying at that time you will not get COVID if you get the shots. He got COVID in July 2022.
Quotes from the writer:
"People who had received three or more shots were more than three times as likely to be infected as those who hadn’t received any."
"The authors spun the results as positive by noting that the vaccinated people they studied had 37 percent fewer overall deaths as unvaccinated people. But that finding is almost certainly an artifact of what is called “healthy vaccine user bias.” People who are vaccinated tend to be healthier overall than those who are not, and physicians sometimes withhold vaccines from people near death because they don’t think those patients will benefit. The clinical trials that Pfizer and Moderna conducted showed no evidence that their mRNA vaccines reduced the overall risk of death - and deaths overall are far higher than normal this year in highly mRNA vaccinated countries."
The article:
"Two new studies show mRNA-jabbed people have a much higher risk of getting Covid than unvaccinated people"
Hi YLE, I am a physician in an FQHC. I have noticed some severe febrile URIs which are negative when tested for COVID/FLU or strep, and too short a time course for anything else really (2-4days). I know the drill but am wondering about the accuracy rates for rapid COVID tests with the new variants. Any information on that?
I’m worried that some elders may not get treatment rapidly enough with our current testing
Interesting, but I am not surprised by the numbers. I know a lot of people who decided not to get their older kids and teens vaccinated. I live in a blue area, in the capital of a blue state, and within walking distance of three hospitals, so I don't think it is political or due to the word not getting out that the vaccine is recommended for kids. The schools have definitely been advocating for it, and we have had several vaccine clinics in the schools, including before the Fall 2022 school year.
I have heard several parents say they are not getting it for their daughters because they are worried about the effects on their reproductive systems, which doesn't seem to have any bearing in facts, but I understand the concern over side effects we might find out years in the future. My own daughter had an exam yesterday and asked about her recent onset of heavy and irregular periods. The doctor said that it coincided with my daughter getting COVID this summer, so that is likely the culprit. I don't know if there is truth to that, and the doctor was not at all concerned and said it would probably return to normal soon. So if the vaccine does indeed have effects, it sounds like COVID itself might have similar?
Has there not been a lot of discussion about three months being too soon for a booster after infection. I’d like ti know if there is research that shows the ideal waiting period.
Thank you! I have been waiting for this update and so curious why it has been barely a blip on the news. For what it's worth, we drove 2 hours in Florida to get the Moderna primary series....twice.....and I don't regret it. But that can't be the model for public health...
Boosters for kids under 5: A quick update
I love your newsletter. As a physician I am all in on boosters for at risk adults and elderly. However, I am still in the “wait and see”mode for children because of lack of real world effectiveness data and potential risk data . Covid is a disease which very rarely causes serious illness in children.
In my experience, as a grandparent and a physician, getting the booster is hard! So add the "pandemic is over" widespread belief/narrative, to the fact that vaccines tend to be administered in pharmacies now and children under 2 have to see a provider and most pediatric/family medicine offices aren't offering the vaccine and/or booster. Lack of knowledge and inconvenience and the downplaying of risk of infection are all working to lower uptake. IMO. In my state, public health has been largely dismantled, the "pandemic is endemic" narrative the official theme of our local --very hardworking and quite good--health department and yet I'm seeing so much disease. So discouraging.
I absolutely agree that we must make it easier for parents to find these boosters for their kids. I do wish there wasn't so many different formulations of COVID vaccines and different schedules between Moderna and Pfizer. It's really challenging to store all of these vaccines and keep staff trained on them, especially when the demand for them is so low.
YLE - quick question, but crucial -- is there a decent set of data debunking the (considerable) hysteria among certain folks about post vaccine health issues, including lost pregnancies, deaths, kidney issues, etc? What are the experts showing the layfolks to counter the (DeSantis) narrative? Help.
Try searching directly with local pharmacies (Walgreens or CVS) for under 5 boosters. When I searched vaccines.gov I also was only shown a few, distant options. I was willing to travel if needed, so when I clicked on Walgreens to schedule and input my child's age and ZIP, there was actually a much closer location that had it available. I fear the government website is not comprehensive. Hope this helps someone!
It would definitely be interesting to dive deeper into the low uptake and see how much if it can be attributed to lack of information/availability as opposed to knowing it's available, having access to it, and just choosing not to get your child vaccinated.
People should check with their local health departments. I work as a vaccinator with one, and we offer the bivalent COVID vaccine for this youngest age group.
Also, my youngest son tested positive for Type A influenza this past week and was incredibly ill: 7 days of 102-103 fevers, had to go in to be checked for secondary infection, and he had the flu vaccine in September. I’ve never been fond of the phrase “just the flu,” having lost a healthy family member in their early 40s to it years ago. My nurse friends still in the hospital are reporting severe cases of Flu A in otherwise healthy children.
From that CDC report which you linked: "COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Safety Among Children Aged 6 Months–5 Years — United States, June 18, 2022–August 21, 2022"
This is the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph of the summary:
"CDC’s v-safe call center contacts registrants who indicate that medical care was received after vaccination and encourages completion of a VAERS report." Oops, that's not a complete sentence. Looks like the proof reader, if there was one, missed that.
One interesting thing about this report is it gives some details from the V-Safe data. The CDC kept the V-Safe data secret for 2 years, until the lawyer for a major anti-vaxer got a judge to force the CDC to release the data.
The nearest site vaccines.gov shows me is 20+ miles away and none will do kids under 3, but I called the health department that got us our first 2 shots directly and they scheduled us for tomorrow. It will be half an hour of driving each way again.
Is there a minimum amount of time to wait? My 8 month old just had his second moderna a few weeks ago and my two other kids (under 5) had their second dose in Aug or Sept. I don't want to wait out the winter surge, but don't want to jump the gun. Help!
For those interested in reading some new studies on COVID vaccines, there are 2 linked in this article. One of them is about the bivalent booster. The more COVID vaccines taken, the higher the risk of catching COVID. Unvaccinated are at the lowest risk for catching COVID.
I've met many people who did not get COVID until after they got the shots. President Biden got his first COVID shot in December 2020 saying at that time you will not get COVID if you get the shots. He got COVID in July 2022.
Quotes from the writer:
"People who had received three or more shots were more than three times as likely to be infected as those who hadn’t received any."
"The authors spun the results as positive by noting that the vaccinated people they studied had 37 percent fewer overall deaths as unvaccinated people. But that finding is almost certainly an artifact of what is called “healthy vaccine user bias.” People who are vaccinated tend to be healthier overall than those who are not, and physicians sometimes withhold vaccines from people near death because they don’t think those patients will benefit. The clinical trials that Pfizer and Moderna conducted showed no evidence that their mRNA vaccines reduced the overall risk of death - and deaths overall are far higher than normal this year in highly mRNA vaccinated countries."
The article:
"Two new studies show mRNA-jabbed people have a much higher risk of getting Covid than unvaccinated people"
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-two-new-studies-show-mrna?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=363080&post_id=91933445&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email
Hi YLE, I am a physician in an FQHC. I have noticed some severe febrile URIs which are negative when tested for COVID/FLU or strep, and too short a time course for anything else really (2-4days). I know the drill but am wondering about the accuracy rates for rapid COVID tests with the new variants. Any information on that?
I’m worried that some elders may not get treatment rapidly enough with our current testing
Interesting, but I am not surprised by the numbers. I know a lot of people who decided not to get their older kids and teens vaccinated. I live in a blue area, in the capital of a blue state, and within walking distance of three hospitals, so I don't think it is political or due to the word not getting out that the vaccine is recommended for kids. The schools have definitely been advocating for it, and we have had several vaccine clinics in the schools, including before the Fall 2022 school year.
I have heard several parents say they are not getting it for their daughters because they are worried about the effects on their reproductive systems, which doesn't seem to have any bearing in facts, but I understand the concern over side effects we might find out years in the future. My own daughter had an exam yesterday and asked about her recent onset of heavy and irregular periods. The doctor said that it coincided with my daughter getting COVID this summer, so that is likely the culprit. I don't know if there is truth to that, and the doctor was not at all concerned and said it would probably return to normal soon. So if the vaccine does indeed have effects, it sounds like COVID itself might have similar?
Has there not been a lot of discussion about three months being too soon for a booster after infection. I’d like ti know if there is research that shows the ideal waiting period.
The CDC website still says says "(Children 6 months to 4 years are not recommended for a booster.)" in their guidelines. Am I missing something?
Thank you! I have been waiting for this update and so curious why it has been barely a blip on the news. For what it's worth, we drove 2 hours in Florida to get the Moderna primary series....twice.....and I don't regret it. But that can't be the model for public health...