JULY 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 33
Brendan Lo (13) receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at Northwell Health's Cohen Children's Medical Center
in New Hyde Park, N.Y., May 13, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
COVID VACCINES FOR CHILDREN
KIDS 12 AND UP ARE ROLLING UP THEIR SLEEVES, BUT SOME PARENTS SAY, “NOT SO FAST.”
BY BERNADETTE STARZEE
Emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was expanded to
include children as young as 12 years old on May 10. As of June 17, nearly a third of children
ages 12 to 15 in New York State (29.9 percent) had received at least one dose.
But while some parents rushed to get their kids a shot, others are resistant. In a Kaiser
Family Foundation survey in late May, 34 percent of U.S. parents of children ages 12-17
said they either would not get their children vaccinated or would only do so if their school
required it.
“I am not anti-vaccine, but I do not want to give my children this vaccine, because the virus
isn’t really deadly for children,” said Dana Leo, a Commack parent whose children are ages
12 and 13. “Also, the vaccine has not been tested enough. The kids have the highest
survival rate from the virus … Why inject them with something that I have no idea what it is
made of?”
The medical community is working to educate parents about the safety of the vaccines
while reminding them not to become complacent about the infectious disease.
PRESS HEALTH
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