Are you getting your young child vaccinated for Covid-19?

[yourmother]

My DS is 6.5 years old and I plan on having him vaccinated for Covid-19 as soon as the vaccine is available.  

What are your plans?

I live in a red state and am currently visiting a red state and have been vocal about getting the vaccine for my child ASAP.  I'm not letting the naysayers persuade me out of doing what I think is best for my child.  However, I'm not a doctor and haven't done much research.  

What are ML's thoughts?

[Bernadine]

Yes, dd is 5, and she will be vaccinated once it’s available.

[circa1978]

Yes. I have no concerns.

[jlt19]

Absolutely, as soon as possible. I actually read yesterday some of our hospitals are allowing us to make appointments already and that’s my plan for today.

DD was just put on quarantine Wednesday due to an exposure at school and just that has really screwed up some plans, and it will obviously only get worse if her PCR comes back positive. I don’t want to keep doing this forever.

[dancingirl21]

Yes. I have 8 and 5 year old boys and both are getting it as soon as it comes out. I have no concerns.

[devonpow]

Yep. Ds1 (14) got vaccinated the day after it was opened up for him. I’m
Hoping I can get DS2 (9) in that quickly as well

[devonpow]

Just to add I live in a very blue, highly vaccinated area. If anyone is not getting the vaccine for their kids they are not saying! There’s a lot of communal pressure on vaccines here

[Pilsy]

Yes, definitely.

[penguingrrl]

Yes, without hesitation. My older two got vaccinated the first day they were eligible (one the day it was approved for 12+, the other the day after her 12th birthday). This is the only real way to break the train of transmission. And my husband is immunocompromised so he needs extra protection. My son is currently on medical home instruction from school until he can be fully vaccinated, and it sucks.

[melissa]

DD (12) already has hers and DS (10) will get it as soon as it is available.

[Velar Fricative]

Yes. I am less concerned of the risk of covid to her (she had asymptomatic covid in February) than I am about doing what we can to break the chain of transmission. Data has steadily shown lately that unvaccinated people are on average about 6 times more likely to become infected. Breakthroughs and reinfections are always possible but I'd like to do what we can to prevent it without having to hunker down forever.

[DotAndBuzz]

Without reservation, or hesitation, YES.

Also, I'm not a doctor, and while I do have a science background, there's no possible way for me to "do my research" any more thoroughly than the ACTUAL scientists and researchers who did these studies.
If there were known contraindications for certain kids, they'd say so. The FDA and CDC are *VERY* cautious about recommending things for children, especially young children. It's one reason why it has taken this long to get to the authorization stage. They found something that concerned them (myocarditis), and decided they needed more data to be absolutely sure and/or find any associated risk factors.

So yes yes yes. A thousand times, yes, for my child.

[macmars45]

Yep. DS(5) has to be protected because my red city won't protect him with herd immunity. Unfortunately it's every person for themselves at this point. Only 63% of adults are vaxxed and roughly 20% of 12-17 year olds in my city. I'm assuming 5-11 years old will reach 20% or less vaxxed in my city based on how the older kids vaccination rate is.

[sonrisa]

Yes. Assuming DH reviews the research and thinks we should. Nothing we've seen yet suggests otherwise. (Obviously the approval and recommendation haven't come in yet. If there is any language carving out kids like ours then obviously that would influence our decision. Given that neither have any special health needs that seems unlikely given what we've seen so far.)

[Susie]

Yes.  ASAP.  So far the data that I've seen has looked great.  My kids are 5 and 2, and I'm hoping for November for the 5 yo, and sometime this winter for my 2 yo.

[sproctopus]

Yes, he's 3 though and I don't know if or when it will be approved for his group.

I am a scientist, but my specialty is not this and I trust science.

However, it's not without being a little nervous. I don't have a great explanation for why I have the nerves. I had them for my own first shot (I was in the first group). It's hard making decisions for other people's bodies is probably the best way to boil it down.

[Leeham Rimes]

Absolutely. Covid odds are far more dangerous and deadly than any vaccine side effect could possibly be.

floridaphoenix.com/2021/10/18/think-a-mild-case-of-covid-19-is-no-big-deal-think-again/?fbclid=IwAR1ABrD9feHC5PW9JSjlIW8i9k2HRyY3nxf50jspOpBrSzF224bBpNMCS84

[erbear]

DD is 10.5 and will be vaccinated ASAP. My medical friends and family members (including 2 pediatricians and one infectious disease doc) are all vaccinating their children, and I trust that they have read the studies.

[CurlyQ284]

Yes. We just got our flu shots Wednesday so that he could have some spacing before the covid shot is released. I thought I read somewhere that we should hear Nov 3rd. DS is 8 and aware that this is on the horizon, and said he will feel better after he has it.

[fivechickens]

Absolutely!

I see some people said no, I am curious why they wouldn’t.

[eb777888]

Oct 22, 2021 9:10:55 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

However, it's not without being a little nervous. I don't have a great explanation for why I have the nerves. I had them for my own first shot (I was in the first group). It's hard making decisions for other people's bodies is probably the best way to boil it down.

Thank you for saying this! I trust the science as well and knew we were all getting vaccinated, but the whole thing was so damn stressful. 

[eb777888]

Oct 22, 2021 9:11:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Absolutely. Covid odds are far more dangerous and deadly than any vaccine side effect could possibly be.

floridaphoenix.com/2021/10/18/think-a-mild-case-of-covid-19-is-no-big-deal-think-again/?fbclid=IwAR1ABrD9feHC5PW9JSjlIW8i9k2HRyY3nxf50jspOpBrSzF224bBpNMCS84

Yes, this is what I kept coming back to in my mind.

I know people who have died from Covid, I don't know anyone who has died from a vaccine. 

[acr]

DS (11) is in the Moderna trial. We've also had his antibodies tested & we can see that he received the real deal.

[isabel]

Yes, I will get DS1 vaccinated (also 6.5) as soon as possible.

DS2 (4) just had covid, but he’ll get vaccinated as soon as he’s eligible too.

I have no concerns and cannot wait for my kids to get this vaccine!

[osulori]

My oldest is 8 and will be getting it as soon as it's approved. The little one is 2 so I know it's going to be a bit before she can do it, but she will be once it's approved also.

[underwaterrhymes]

Yes. Mine are 6 and 8 and the day they announce it’s available, we are reaching out to our pediatrician to schedule.

[NewGirlNic]

I voted yes. DS is 12 and he was vaccinated. He turned 12 on a Friday and had his first dose appointment the following Tuesday.

If he was younger, I would be doing the same and getting him an appointment as soon as I could once approval for his age group was given.

[firedancer10288]

Yes- my 14 year old was vaccinated as soon as it was available. I don’t have younger kids, but I would get them vaccinated without question.

[circa1978]

Oct 22, 2021 9:20:27 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

Oct 22, 2021 9:11:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Absolutely. Covid odds are far more dangerous and deadly than any vaccine side effect could possibly be.

floridaphoenix.com/2021/10/18/think-a-mild-case-of-covid-19-is-no-big-deal-think-again/?fbclid=IwAR1ABrD9feHC5PW9JSjlIW8i9k2HRyY3nxf50jspOpBrSzF224bBpNMCS84

Yes, this is what I kept coming back to in my mind.

I know people who have died from Covid, I don't know anyone who has died from a vaccine. 

Yes. And people who worry about the possible later effects of the vaccine, well we KNOW there are later effects of COVID, sooo. Are the people saying no just taking their bets that their child won't get COVID if not vaccinated  and just rely on the immunity of everyone ELSE's kids getting vaxxed because...that's not a solid (or ethical) plan, guys. 

[abs]

Yes. I did have reservations awhile ago but those have mostly been alleviated. As someone said I want to do our part to break the transmission chain. Selfishly I also want to travel and vaccination for all will make that much easier.