Should Vaccines Be Required For CA Kids 5 To 11? Readers Weigh In

CALIFORNIA — New mandates for younger children were already coming down for communities across the Golden State this week following the federal emergency authorization of Pfizer's lower dose COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

After vaccines receive full federal approval, eligible students in K-12 schools will be required to receive a vaccine to attend school in person. It's not likely to affect students until the start of school in fall 2022 as federal officials have shown no sign of fast-tracking FDA approval of the vaccine for children.

In a recent nonscientific Patch survey, out of a pool of 4,829 respondents, 67 percent said they did not think school-aged children in California should be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 30 percent said they should and 3.3 percent were unsure.

Of the 4,829 readers who responded, more than 62 percent said they had a child between 5 and 11 years old. Of that group, nearly 61 percent said they would not vaccinate their child against COVID-19, while 29.4 percent said they would. Some 9.7 percent said they were undecided.

Readers responded to the Patch survey as it appeared in questionnaire form in this article.

All students in K-12 classrooms could be required to get inoculated as soon as January. We asked readers if they agreed with this policy:

• "Yes" 29.6 percent
  
• "No" 68 percent
  
• "Not sure" 2.4 percent

In an optional, short answer question, we asked readers whether they had any concerns about vaccinating children in that age bracket. Dozens of respondents cited potential side effects, while many others said they didn't think enough research had been done on the pediatric vaccine.

Here's what other readers had to say:

They cannot possibly give children a drug that has not been studied long term. This is crazy.

No, we vaccinate our young children to prevent many diseases, by the time they are approved we know they are safe.

It should be up to the parents to vaccinate or not to vaccinate their children.

Masks work, keep it up.

I am pro vacation but for adults. 5-11 are children. Leave them alone.

Vaccine should be mandated for this age group. They need to be protected and they have already missed too much school.

People need to get off their high horses and protect their neighbors and children.

I will remove my children from public school rather than vaccinate at this time.

The state was allocated about 1.2 million doses from the federal government to administer to youngsters next week at clinics across the state, many of which will be set up on public school campuses. Some 500 organizations statewide were set to receive their first shipments on Monday, with 4,000 locations ready to vaccinate that age group.

"Today is a monumental day in the course of this pandemic," Walensky told the advisory panel earlier this week.

While the risk of severe disease or death is lower in young children, Walensky emphasized that the pandemic has had an extreme effect on children.

"There are children in the second grade who have never experienced a normal school year," Walensky said. "Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change all of that."

Doctors who cared for hospitalized youngsters hope parents embrace Pfizer’s child shots, saying they’re safe and far better than gambling that a child will escape a coronavirus infection.

“I’ve seen plenty of children in this age group that have been seriously ill,” said Dr. Matthew Linam, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “The risk of significant infection is still very real in this population.”

More than 8,300 children aged 5 to 11 have been hospitalized, about a third requiring intensive care, according to government data. The CDC recorded at least 94 deaths in that age group.

The FDA's advisory panel found that smaller-sized doses of Pfizer vaccines appeared to be highly effective at preventing symptomatic infections in children aged 5 to 11.

One study of clinical data showed that Pfizer had a 90.7 percent efficacy rate at preventing COVID-19 in children 5 to 11 during a time when the delta variant was rampant in the U.S., according to Pfizer.

"I think a lot of parents wonder, well, 'Why ... COVID hasn't affected kids as much,'" Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's top public health official, said at a Wednesday news briefing. "The truth is ...[COVID-19 is] among the top 10 killers of kids in the last year. CDC announced it is the eighth-leading killer of young people."

Nationwide, COVID-19 has killed more than 600 children, according to the CDC. In the Golden State, 37 children have died from the virus, according to the California Department of Public Health.

"Vaccines are how we end this pandemic, and they’re how we keep our kids safe – it’s time to get our children the protection they need from this deadly virus, especially as we head into the winter season," said Gov. Gavin Newsom.

READ MORE: CA School Vaccine Mandate Coming Soon, But Questions Remain