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Parents pumped up about youth COVID shots

Protects kids and families, say doctors
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GOT IT! — Elliott Munson, stepson of St. Albert Coun. Natalie Joly, gives a thumbs-up after getting his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Nov. 26, 2021. The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for Albertans 5 to 11 rolled out Nov. 26. NATALIE JOLY/Photo
St. Albert parents lined up on Friday so their kids could be among the first in the province to get the COVID-19 shot for youths under the age of 12.

Alberta health officials started giving out the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to people ages five to 11 on Nov. 26, making it available to about 391,000 Alberta children.

St. Albert Coun. Natalie Joly was one of the tens of thousands of parents who booked shots for their kids as soon as appointments were available on Nov. 24. Most parents she knew were just as excited to get the shot.

“We’re excited to protect our kids. We’re excited to protect our community.”

Pediatrician Kellie Waters of St. Albert’s Summit Pediatric Clinic made appointments for her two youngest kids to get vaccinated on Nov. 24 as well. She encouraged all parents to get their kids the shot.

“My pediatric disease colleagues at the Stollery [Children’s Hospital] tell me they’ve seen some really sick kids in the last few months since Delta has come through,” she said, referring to the current dominant strain of COVID.

“The risk of doing nothing outweighs any theoretical risk of vaccination.”

Facts on the vax

The Gazette put common questions from parents about the vaccine to Waters and University of Alberta pediatrics professor Tehseen Ladha.

Waters and Ladha explained that the Pfizer vaccine works by delivering memory RNA (mRNA) instructions to your cells’ ribosomes for how to make antibodies that will stick to COVID’s spike proteins, flagging the disease for attack by your immune system. This mRNA is destroyed after use and does not enter the nucleus or change your DNA.

Ladha said the vaccine is the same one that has been administered to millions of adults around the world, but one-third as big — researchers found they could get the same immune response in kids with a smaller dose.

Ladha said researchers tested the vaccine on about 3,000 youths in this age group around the world and found it to be 90-per-cent effective against COVID. Side effects were very mild — sore arm, headache, the occasional rash — and cleared up quickly. About 2.5 million American children aged 5 to 11 had gotten the shot as of Nov. 24 without any reported issues.

Several parents wanted to hear about the vaccine’s links to myocarditis or heart muscle inflammation in youths.

The Pfizer vaccine has been known to cause myocarditis in very rare cases, Ladha said. COVID also causes it, and typically causes worse cases of it.

Alberta Health Services reported 24 cases of myocarditis following vaccination, as of Sept. 23, most of which were mild and cleared up after a few days. They pegged the rate of myocarditis after two doses of Pfizer (cases have been most common after the second shot) at 6.6 per million, or about 0.00066 per cent.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that people under 30 were six to 34 times more likely to get myocarditis post COVID infection than post COVID vaccine, Waters noted. Vaccine-related cases were also milder, requiring about two days in hospital compared to five.

While COVID appears to cause less severe outcomes in the very young, it still sends some to the hospital, Ladha noted. Kids under 10 accounted for 10.9 per cent of Alberta’s COVID cases, 1.5 per cent of its COVID hospitalizations, and one of its COVID deaths, AHS reported as of Nov. 24. Up to 15 per cent of youths get “long COVID,” where their symptoms persist for months, Ladha added.

Waters said she had treated several youths with long COVID who, months after their infections, couldn’t smell or climb stairs without getting winded.

“It’s amazing what that can do to a kid’s mental health.”

Herd immunity

Ladha said Alberta needs as many people as possible to get vaccinated if we want to reach herd immunity and end the pandemic. Without widespread immunity, we get cancelled surgeries, school shutdowns, and kids unable to visit grandparents.

“Children exist in the context of community,” Ladha said.

“If the community is not protected, it’s detrimental to the children.”

Ladha and Waters advised anyone with questions on the vaccine to talk to their doctor about them.

Joly said her kids got their shots Friday and felt great about it.

“They were happy to have access to a vaccine that their great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and older sibling have received.”

Joly said these vaccines open the door for her to have safe family get-togethers.

“It’s been two years since I’ve had a family Christmas, and we’re looking forward to doing that.”

Visit www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx for information on the vaccination campaign.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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