Status: 06/30/2022 03:25 a.m
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In the USA, young children between the ages of six months and five years can now also be vaccinated against the corona virus. In New York, where half a million young children would be eligible, vaccination is starting slowly.
By Antje Passenheim, ARD Studio New York
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No more home for Covid. Not even for the little ones. There is not always a spade without tears. But Elle is in good spirits. Laughing and proud, the three-and-a-half-year-old walks into a drugstore on the outskirts of New York, holding her parents’ hands.
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Antje Passenheim
ARD-Studio New York
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They are among the very first to get their youngest family members vaccinated in just over a week.
“Is that it?”
The little girl asks in amazement whether that was it when she comes out of the vaccination booth of the drugstore – in the metropolis that was the epicenter of the pandemic in the USA just over two years ago. Elle was just one year old then. After the spade, her mother Tracy is relieved.
I would say it was both wonderful and disappointingly late. We’ve waited too long for this day. And I feel better about it now. Elle was restricted. For example, she couldn’t go to kindergarten for a long time because her father had Covid and she couldn’t be vaccinated herself.
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That’s over now: Around 19 million children between the ages of six months and five years in the United States are eligible for the first dose of either Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
Almost half a million young children are eligible for vaccination
In New York, nearly half a million infants can be freed from many restrictions with this spade, says pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital Nils Henning.
There are also children who couldn’t wear their masks, these are the children who couldn’t go to birthday parties. These are children who have not been able to see their grandparents for a long time.
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So far, however, the really big wave of vaccinations, as in the case of adults, has not materialised. While around 60 percent of five to 17-year-olds in New York are fully vaccinated, it will take longer for the little ones. In a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, only one in five parents said they wanted to have their toddler vaccinated immediately. Belongs to the more cautious mothers Katherine McHugh:
I’m definitely pro-vaccination and my kids have been vaccinated against everything since they were little. But I am skeptical about the Covid vaccination for them. There is no mature data. We don’t know what effect that will have on this little body in a few years’ time.
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Experts: Parents underestimate the dangers of infection
However, parents could just as well ask what consequences a Covid infection can have for their little ones, says pediatrician Henning. Many mothers and fathers underestimated the dangers.
Here in the US, Covid is one of the top ten causes of death among children. But many parents are not aware of this at first.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 400 children under the age of four in the United States had not survived corona disease by the end of May. The vaccination not only reduces the risk of serious illnesses for small children, my pediatrician Henning:
The more people, including children, who are vaccinated, the more they protect their friends, family and community. And what is also important: the higher the vaccination rate, the lower the probability that the corona virus will mutate into other variants.
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Finally there is no unvaccinated member in her family, says Elle’s mother Tracey as they leave the drugstore. Now the youngest would be part of society again – just like everyone else.
Baby-Piks: Corona vaccination for small children in New York is starting slowly
Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, 6/30/2022 6:17 a.m
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