Dr. Bob: I see that the FDA just approved a new COVID booster, and the CDC is recommending the vaccine for everyone. Should my children, ages 6 and 12, get the vaccine? Is this next shot really safe?
Answer: I think that it is really hard to understand why we have to continue to get COVID shots since the pandemic has been declared over. Well, the virus hasn’t gone away. We cannot see viruses while they continue to circulate. And COVID circulates via a respiratory path.
We are seeing an increase in the cases of COVID in South Carolina. The cases of COVID are not being reported like they used to be so please don’t think that the virus is less prominent. It will continue to change (or mutate). But the good news is that the vaccine provides a great deal of protection. Does it guarantee that you will not get the disease? No – but it does make it far less likely that your child will need to be hospitalized or have serious illness. Like when you receive the flu vaccine, the risk of hospitalization or even death is markedly low.
Now I know that sometimes parents hear about the potential side effects of the COVID vaccine. Millions of children have safely received the vaccine. Acute short-term side effects (sore arm or slight fever or malaise the day after the shot) can occur. Myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart muscle) is a rare side effect and usually resolves on its own. Remember that myocarditis is more common with COVID infection and is much more severe.
The short-term side effects do not reflect an actual infection but rather the immune system responding to the shot and mounting a response to the non-infectious viral protein particles. This response then protects us in the future. The most common vaccine (mRNA) helps the body code for the viral protein, ever so briefly, so the body can mount an immune response. The mRNA does not alter the DNA and the viral protein is then cleared from the body.
I have heard some people say that the current vaccine produces spike proteins that linger in your body and will harm you in the long run. The vaccines are designed to produce just the right amount of spike protein for the immune system to get cranked up. If you get COVID infection, you have even more amounts of spike protein. So, it is natural for the vaccine to produce small amounts of spike protein (the proteins on the outside of the virus) if we want to get protection from this serious virus. Remember, millions of people died during the pandemic including over 1,600 children. Also, a huge number of children lost significant caregivers – parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles – and this was a significant trauma in their lives.
Both of my grandchildren (ages 3 and 12) have received COVID vaccine and will receive the booster. If we want to continue to shed our masks, to make sure that children stay in school, and to protect others in our families, it is incredibly important for everyone eligible for the shot (everyone over 6 months of age) get the shot. The more people that are vaccinated, the fewer infections, the fewer children affected and the greater the level of immunity overall.
That is our goal – protecting everyone and especially your children!
Dr. Saul is Professor of Pediatrics (Emeritus) at Prisma Health and his website is www.mychildrenschildren.com. Contact Dr. Bob at askdrbobsaul@gmail.com with more questions.