Parents wrestle with lingering questions as children's COVID vaccine is distributed
SAN ANTONIO - Right now, parents are signing their children up for COVID-19 vaccines here at the Wonderland of the Americas mall.
Tomorrow they'll be giving the shots out, but some parents still have lingering questions
When it comes to getting her 7-year-old granddaughter Kaycee vaccinated, Tresa Mainez has her doubts.
"I was concerned because, you know, they're smaller,” says Mainez.
She wasn’t as skeptical when she got her own vaccine though, adding she was one of the first in line.
She says, "When it came out, I got it right away.”
About three in ten parents of 5 to 11-year-olds are eager to get a vaccine for their younger child, while a third say they'll wait a while to see how the vaccine is working -- that's according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
“I think the biggest thing is, is to, you know, understand and to sit with the pediatrician, and to further discuss if they have questions,” says Mandie Tibball Svatek, Pediatric Hospitalist UT Health San Antonio.
Among the questions local pediatricians are hearing -- why vaccinate children, if they rarely get sick?
“Among kids in this age group, there's almost 2 million cases, over 8,000 kids in this age group hospitalized,” says Dr. Ryan Van Ramshors, Chief Medical Director For Medicaid/Chip Services HHS.
Parents are also asking about the dosage given to the young children now eligible.
"Vaccines are different from administering drugs, antibiotics, or even medication such as Tylenol,” says Svatek. “Those are those things because you don't want to overdose on any antibiotic or any medication that you give your child. But vaccines work differently."
These pediatricians admit it can be confusing.
They're asking parents who have questions to do their own research and pose the same questions to their own kids' doctors.
Dr. Ramshorst says, “When they have those questions, talking to their child's healthcare provider, talking to their child's pediatrician...”