How to Keep Your Kids Safe from COVID Now That School is Back in Session (and While Waiting for Vaccine Approval)
School is back in session, which means kids, both vaccinated and not are in close quarters. As one would expect, and quite frankly feared, COVID-19 cases have risen nearly 240% since July. Thankfully, despite the high number of COVID cases, children continue to make up a very small percentage (1.6% to 4%) of hospitalized patients. Another blessing, the FDA says it may be a matter of weeks before they make the determination if they’re going to authorize the vaccine for children ages 5-11. This can be a critical turning point in the pandemic. If more people are vaccinated, variant mutations will slow.
As parents and caregivers wait for COVID vaccine approval for children under 12, they wonder how to keep their children safe. Experts say that the best way to keep children safe from COVID-19 is to surround them with people who are vaccinated. They recommend that adults receive the vaccine to protect those who do not yet qualify.
Regarding Wearing Masks in School
The Centers for Disease Control recommend universal masking for children in Kindergarten through the twelfth grade. There are a lot of benefits to wearing a mask. To start, wearing a mask helps prevent the spread of COVID to classmates. It also protects children who are immunocompromised and therefore unable to develop a normal antibody response after receiving the vaccine. Let’s not forget that we are on the heels of flu season. Wearing a mask helps reduce the risk of the flu and respiratory illnesses such as RSV.
Other recommendations to help keep your kids safe from COVID-19 involve doing some of the same things we’ve been doing since last March, which include handwashing for 20 seconds, not sharing food, using hand sanitizer, and limiting exposure to people who aren’t vaccinated.
Vitamin D and COVID
Vitamin D may also help. Research has found that the majority of people diagnosed with COVID-19 had a deficiency in vitamin D. Plus, people who had adequate levels of vitamin D were 51.5 percent less likely to have complications or die from the disease. The Endocrine Society recommends that infants get anywhere from 400–1,000 IUs daily, children 600–1,000 IUs daily, and adults 600–2,000 IUs daily. However, some people need more vitamin D. Therefore at Rainbow Pediatrics, we recommend that families speak with their pediatrician about vitamin D supplementation before taking it.
We want to help you keep your children safe. If you have questions or concerns about how to keep your kids safe from COVID-19 or the vaccine, please call our office to schedule an appointment. Your family’s safety is our primary concern.
