Kids Getting Vaccinated

By Jasper Yu-Dawidowicz

Vaccination is the major talk in the country today as it is the key to the future. Millions of people around the world have gotten sick and died because of COVID 19. A few days ago, the U.S. reached 500,000 deaths and that number keeps rising. Vaccines are the key to stopping this trend and they are reaching the arms of Americans slowly. As of March 16st, 21.6% of the American population has received a first dose of a vaccine and 11.5% of the population is fully vaccinated. The one age group that has not received any doses or authorization for the vaccine is children and teens. 

While clinical trials have begun for children ages 12 - 17 taking the Moderna vaccine and ages 12 - 15 for those taking the Pfizer vaccine, results are not likely to be released until the summer of 2021. Even with the results in, it would likely still take weeks for the FDA to approve it for use in teenagers. Experts say that the slowness of tests on whether children can receive current vaccines is because they are prioritizing those at the highest risk for catching and dying from COVID. In fact, while people under the age of 21 make up a quarter of the U.S. population, they only account for 1% of deaths. 

There are two major vaccines approved by the FDA today, Pfizer and Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for all people ages 16 and up. The Moderna vaccine is for everyone ages 18 and up. These two vaccines, and the other vaccines that are also being created to battle COVID-19, help our bodies develop immunity to the virus. All the vaccines work in slightly different ways, some insert a small amount of the virus into your body, some insert pieces of protein that cause COVID-19 instead of the whole virus, and finally, some contain a weakened version of a virus that has the same genetic material that causes COVID. Despite this, they all produce a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes  that remember how to fight the virus in the future. It does take a few weeks for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes so people can still catch COVID after vaccination. 

Children will need to be vaccinated at some point in order to reach herd immunity, which is when the majority of the population is protected against a virus in order to ensure that the virus can’t transmit between people easily. Scientists estimate that at least 70 to 90 percent of the U.S. population needs to be vaccinated before we reach herd immunity.  In the coming weeks progress will continue to be made towards the goal of herd immunity. But for now… Keep your masks.