The Vaccine for Children: Our Greatest Weapon

COVID-19 is a virus that has been running rampant for the past 2 years. From rumors of a flu-like virus in late 2019 to a full-blown pandemic in late 2021, the virus has spread to all of the different corners of the globe, with multiple variants such as the Delta variant and the recent Omicron variant that turns the virus into something far worse than before. However, science has allowed us to create vaccines that protect us from the worst. Here in the Philippines, the vaccines are given out to adults 18 years old and above. The thing is, most of these vaccinations are Sinovac, which has an efficacy rate of about 51%, compared to Pfizer, which has an efficacy rate of 93% (McPhillips, 2021). A total percentage of 32.7% of Filipinos have been fully vaccinated so far (Covid-19 Tracker, 2021).

I’m 17 years old, and I have a sister who is 11. My parents plan to get us both vaccinated for COVID in December, a month after my sister turns 12. The rest of my family--the adults, anyway-- are fully vaccinated.

So many people every day are being infected by COVID, and some of these people are children. Even though there are more adults getting infected compared to children, these children still suffer. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, children make up about 15% of all Covid-19 cases in the US alone, and according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), some children’s cases are so severe, the child needs to be placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and placed on a ventilator. Other children can also carry the virus without showing any symptoms, and spread the virus around their families.

COVID has already destroyed so many lives, both directly and indirectly. People have died and families have lost loved ones. Businesses have gone bankrupt, many Filipino workers have been laid off, and the economy is worsening every day. In fact, we can’t afford to take the risk of worsening the economy by not vaccinating children. If children get the virus, then, numerous parents will be forced to stay home to care for their child, leaving fewer and fewer people to work and keep the country alive.

There are so many people refusing to vaccinate themselves and the rest of their families. This just endangers the whole family even more, because if one person in the family catches the virus, the whole family will eventually be infected. This leads to hospitalizations and even death.

This leads to the question, “why do some people prefer not to be vaccinated?”. As with everything medicine-related, of course, there are risks. For one, the vaccine may cause allergic reactions that might endanger a life. Other vaccines may contain a chemical that may cause life-threatening side-effects like difficulty breathing, chest pain, confusion, and loss of speech or mobility, but these are few and far in between. Children may be more susceptible to these risks and chemicals, which causes some parents to opt out of getting their children vaccinated.

In the end, the vaccine is our greatest weapon against the virus. It boosts our immune systems to be ready for the infection should we ever catch it. We have to vaccinate our children as soon as possible. It has already been declared safe by the CDC, so it is the best decision to protect the whole family.