TEXAS, USA — Full FDA approval for kids as young as 5 to get the COVID-19 vaccine looms on the horizon. In the meantime, doctors and other mental health experts stress how important it is to bring your kids into the conversation.
“I have parents come into my office and tell me 'Oh, my child doesn't understand what's going on in our family.' And then once I talked to the kiddo, they know exactly what's going on in the family,” said Registered Play Therapist Rebekah Walker.
She said especially with vaccine approval for young kids on the way, it's crucial to make sure parents speak to their kids about how best to protect themselves from the virus.
“If you don't talk to your kids, their classmates are. The internet is. TikTok will,” she said.
After talking to your kids about COVID and the vaccine, Dr. Earnest Stroupe, emergency trauma physician with CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital said he recommends they get their doses as soon as they qualify.
“With the Delta variant especially, we've seen very, very young children become ill. We've seen children as young as neonatal, newborns, five days old, several months old, get significant fevers and become moderately ill that we've had in our community. We did not see that with the first run of COVID.”
He also said symptoms for young children will be about the same as adults: muscle soreness, headache, nausea and fatigue are the most common.
Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 2-4 PM, NET Health will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Arp Junior High cafeteria. First and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be offered free to the public.