Pediatric Advice for Parents: Get COVID-19 Vaccine

When parents get the COVID-19 vaccine, healthcare experts believe that it will prevent community transmission. As most children are asymptomatic, vaccinated parents can further help their kids avoid infection.

Rochester Regional Director for Pediatrics Says YES to Vaccine

Rochester Regional Health pediatric Doctor Beth Orlowski encourages parents to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to the public. Herd immunity may take longer as the vaccine has not yet been approved for children. Further, even an FDA approved vaccine will continue to be under investigation.

When parents get vaccinated, they become a big help to the community. The pediatric medical director revealed that children commonly experience only mild symptoms of COVID-19. In several cases, children who test positive for novel coronavirus do not show any symptoms at all.

Dr. Orlowski added that clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine would be available soon enough for children in the future. When that happens, the age category that will mostly be vaccinated first will be those ages 12 and up, WIVB reported.

Rochester Doctor Reveals Experience of COVID-19 Vaccine

Dr. Laurie Kilbury Taylor of the United Memorial Medical Center is among the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19. She reported minimal side effects. "I felt very little discomfort, but no pain or allergic reactions," Taylor reported.

Taylor expressed her excitement for the COVID-19 vaccine to be made available for everyone. She is yet to receive her second dose of the vaccine on January 4, Rochester First reported. Until then, the doctor is hopeful in saying, "It is something you can do for the community, for your family so we can all go back to a normal life."

The Rochester doctor also believes that the COVID-19 vaccine will help healthcare frontline workers take better care of patients. "It will give us more confidence to care for our patients," she reveals. Healthcare experts believe that the COVID-19 vaccine will help reduce transmission. "Most importantly, the COVID-19 vaccine can help reduce the severity of the virus," she added.

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Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccine

The FDA revealed that it takes typically two days before the side effects surface. Thereafter, the adverse effects will be resolved in just a day or two. The common side effects reported after getting the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer are:

• Fever
• Headache
• Pain at the injection site
• Chills
• Muscle pain
• Fatigue
• Joint pain

How to Advise Vaccine Hesitant Parents

Right now, there is 33 percent of parents who strongly agree the COVID-19 vaccine is needed and safe, AAP revealed. Twenty-five percent are skeptical about the safety of the vaccine. Only 3 percent strongly disagree with the necessity and safety of the vaccine.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revealed methods that healthcare providers have used to reassure parents of the necessity and safety of the vaccine. Here are the methods that worked:

• First, listen and acknowledge the concerns of the parents in a non-confrontational manner. This will help increase the parents' willingness to listen to their doctor's advice.
• Provide essential information about the vaccine. Reaffirm corrects beliefs and clarify any misconceptions.
• Discuss both the benefits and possible adverse effects of the vaccine. Openly talk about what s unknown about immunizations.
• Personalize information based on the parents' concerns, literacy level, and cultural beliefs.
• Focus on the number of lives the COVID-19 vaccine saved, not on the deaths.
• Explain how herd community benefits children individually and the community as a whole.

Despite concerns, most parents will still get vaccinated. But the likelihood of their children getting vaccinated is less than for the parent. As such, these methods can help the healthcare provider better communicate with the parent to encourage vaccination.

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