Today the Food and Drug Administration announced that it has authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11. Dr. Mark Kline, the Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans says this is something he’s been waiting for…
“Antibody levels wane over time after you’re vaccinated against COVID, no matter what age you are,” said Dr. Kline. “And a booster is very effective at helping to get those antibodies back up into the protective range.”
Unfortunately, says Dr. Kline, a large number of children in the state are ineligible for the booster since an overwhelming number of kids in the five to 11 age group haven’t been vaccinated at all. Nationally, just under 30 percent of children have received the vaccine, and in Louisiana, the numbers are much lower…
“Here in Louisiana, it’s down in the range of about 10 percent,” Kline said. “So, you know we go a long way to protecting our kids against COVID if we just get them the primary series.”
Kline emphasizes that millions of children have taken the vaccine without any major side effects and with case numbers once again on the rise, this is as good a time as there’s ever been to vaccinate your child.
“Any death that occurs from this virus at this point is a preventable death,” he said. “And so I would really strongly encourage parents to avail themselves of the opportunity to protect their kid.”
Between 0.1 and 1.5 percent of child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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