US parents in the decision of whether or not to vaccinate their children against COVID-19

Should the youngest be vaccinated against COVID-19? The debate is already a reality in USA, where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday licensed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11.

That decision paved the way for the immunization of nearly 28 million children of that age group.

The new vaccination campaign could begin this week if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) they give their approval, something that is expected for Tuesday.

In the United States, nearly two million children between the ages of five and 11 contracted COVID-19 and at least 172 died, according to the CDC. The figures are low compared to the total number of cases (45.8 million) and deaths (more than 743,000) in the country, but they are worrying.

Now the parents must decide. AFP interviewed several of them to ask whether or not they were going to vaccinate their children.

Daniela Boettcher, a favor

Daniela Boettcher, 45, is a convinced provaccine. So much so that he didn’t even wait for Pfizer’s product approval to immunize his five-year-old daughter, Lia.

Last Friday, the girl was supposed to receive a dose of Moderna’s anti-COVID vaccine as part of a trial, but the US laboratory postponed the date for a week.

For this mother, the decision was easy to make. “I totally believe in vaccines,” he says. “I’ve read all the articles that say the benefits outweigh other possible effects.”

He wants to vaccinate Lia for two reasons. The first is the fear that they will contract the disease and suffer from persistent covid, as a series of symptoms – neurological, physical or psychiatric – is known that last until months after infection.

The second is practical. More and more places are asking for a COVID-19 test in order to access them. A nuisance for Boettcher, who travels several times a year to Germany, his native country, and who does not want to go again and again to test for coronavirus with his family.

David Winker and Cristina Hernandez, undecided

Cristina Hernandez Winker and David Winker still do not know if their eight-year-old daughter should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Despite the approval by the FDA, they have doubts about the possible effects of the Pfizer vaccine for the girl, who is named Cristina after her mother.

“We don’t think twice about getting vaccinated. But this is a little different, ”says David Winker. “We are 50 and a few years old, we will live another 20; but she has eight and will live another 70. What are the effects [de la vacuna] long term? ”he wonders.

Cristina Hernández shares those doubts. “My daughter was born premature and I am concerned about how this is going to affect her immune system,” she explains.

The girl also has allergies, another cause for concern for her parents.

The couple does not rule out that the little girl receives the vaccine, but they want more information. After consulting your pediatrician, they will decide.

Sucelys Alvarez, against

Sucelys Alvarez is clear that she will not vaccinate her seven-year-old son, a student at Centner Academy, a private school in Miami that has had several controversies in recent months about immunization against COVID-19.

The center wrote to the parents of its students, without scientific proof, that the vaccines could be contagious, damaging the fertility of women and the development of children.

“I don’t know what’s in those vaccines,” says Alvarez, who also has a two-year-old son. “I think children need immunity and nutrition and that with that they have more than enough,” he adds.

For this 29-year-old mother, the vaccine “is just chemicals with God knows what” and “no father should put that on their children’s bodies.”