SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - A town hall on Tuesday night gave a chance for the San Francisco County Health Officer and local pediatricians to answer questions from concerned parents.
They assured they believe the vaccine is safe and has undergone enough study among 2,200 kids nationwide, pointing to a 91% effective rate in preventing illness in kids.
Two doses of Pfizer will be given three weeks apart.
Doctors are insisting that vaccinating this younger group is the key to putting an end to this pandemic.
Right now, there are fewer than five kids between 5 and 12 years old in a San Francisco pediatric hospital. Doctors explained although a vast majority of cases in children are mild, they can still spread to others.
One side effect is myocarditis seen more so among older teen boys not as much in those 5 to 12.
It is a mild inflammation of the heart muscle and surrounding tissue but they said it's super rare and can happen without the vaccine if infected with COVID-19 too, so benefits outweigh the risk.
“When my children, my two younger ones got vaccinated was right when the information about the myocarditis was coming out and we did not know, so I understand the fear and concern that some of you may have, but ultimately I have also seen children who have been affected by COVID, children who have been quite sick. We know while the children from San Francisco numbers are small as a regional hospital we get children from other places, and I did not and cannot underestimate that there are children who are normal, and healthy, and act like my children who got the severe disease and were in the hospital and had to have heroic life-saving measures to keep them alive and still suffer. So all of that went into my decision, I would do it again if they were younger."
Lee Atkinson-McEvoy, Chair UCSF Pediatric Primary Care
They told parents if they're worried their kids might not react well to the shot or have a bad reaction to the first one like anaphylaxis they need to consult with their child's pediatrician who knows them best.
San Francisco will start vaccinating kids on Saturday across 100 sites at doctor's offices, pharmacies, community health clinics, as well as neighborhood and school vaccine clinics.
The San Francisco Unified School District will host four clinics:
- Tuesday 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Malcolm X Academy in the Bayview Hunters Point District
- Wednesday 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Balboa in Excelsior
- Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at McCoppin in Richmond District
Just like adults, kids may soon have to have proof of vaccination to go into indoor spaces in San Francisco.
The county health officer saying they'll probably have eight weeks from when the vaccines are available before that may be mandated.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3w9Igaf
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