A COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available for children under 5

A COVID-19 vaccine¹ will soon be available for children under 5

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel asks Dr. Claire Boogaard of Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., about the risks and benefits of vaccines³ for children under the age of five.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The youngest children in this country may soon be eligible⁴ for vaccines in the U.S. Pfizer and BioNTech asked the FDA for an emergency authorization⁵ for shots for children between 6 months and 5 years old. But will parents give kids under the age of 5 the shot? Dr. Claire Boogaard is the medical director of the COVID vaccine program at Children's National in Washington. Thanks for joining us.

CLAIRE BOOGAARD: No problem. Thank you for having me.

FADEL: So I understand you have a couple very young children, including one under 5. If these vaccines are authorized⁶, is the science sound enough for you to feel safe giving the vaccine to your young one?

BOOGAARD: You know, it's a great question. I have a 4-year-old, and in this case, that is a tricky⁷ question. So in December, Pfizer reported that although safe in all the children under 5, this extra-low-dose vaccine only created an antibody response in those less than 2 but failed to do so in the 3 and 4-year-olds. And antibodies are those circulating protectors in our body that the vaccine creates to help us fight off the infection. Pfizer has used these antibody levels in the past to show the effectiveness of their vaccines and was hoping that this dose would create the same response in all kids under 5. But unfortunately, it didn't do it in my child's age group.

FADEL: Yeah.

BOOGAARD: So since the 3 and 4-year-olds did not have the antibody response they're hoping for, they are in the process of trialing this third vaccine, given two months after the second. But that data won't be available until March. So I'm interested as a parent and as a scientist just to see the data that the FDA will show us publicly in just a few weeks to see if there is any other benefit besides antibody response that we as parents with particularly those 3 and 4-year-olds can look forward to.

FADEL: But isn't this process pretty unusual, the way it's being done? Does it concern you?

BOOGAARD: You know it - my understanding is this is not typical, and it is unusual. But my understanding is the federal regulators were taking everything into context⁸, including this very large omicron wave of infections. And this wave of omicron that we're still in the midst⁹ of, even though we're hopefully on the way out of - it's affected¹⁰ many people, as we all know. And like the other waves, it has had the biggest effect on unvaccinated individuals...

FADEL: Right.

BOOGAARD: ...Which include those children under 5, who don't have access to the vaccine.

FADEL: Right.

BOOGAARD: So they're hoping that this can give at least the children under 2 access to the vaccine and then hopefully give some protection or at least speed along the process to be able to show the effectiveness of this vaccine sooner than later.

FADEL: Because I know a lot of parents that are just really eager to get their youngest ones vaccinated¹² so they can feel safer as a family. What are you hearing from parents of under-5s about whether they will vaccinate¹¹?

BOOGAARD: It's a mix. It's - we've now been through a few waves of this, and I'd say it's no different with this younger group than it has been with the older ones. So there's going to be a group of parents and patients that are eager and just want to get it so they can, you know, change some behaviors, go see high-risk individuals that they've been missing and things like that.

FADEL: Yeah.

BOOGAARD: But then there's going to be a group of people that are very nervous and hesitant and just want time to understand the science, to talk to their providers, and the pediatricians will be ready for that when that comes. So we're here, and we want to talk to you guys about it. And then, of course, there's going to be a group that's just really uncomfortable with vaccines that we hope we can reach as well.

FADEL: Is there any indicator¹³ from the numbers with the above-5 kids 'cause only about 1 in 5 kids between the ages of 5 and 11 have been vaccinated so far in the U.S., so that - does that indicate hesitancy among a lot of parents?

BOOGAARD: Yeah, I think we as parents tend to take risk on ourselves more than we take risk on for our children.

FADEL: Yeah.

BOOGAARD: But what's hard for me as a pediatrician in this is this vaccine is incredibly safe for young kids. So between those - those between 5 and 11 in particular, the side effects are very low. The side effects that we do see are the side effects we expect because we stick a needle in your arm, so it might be a little sore or red, or you can get the typical immune¹⁴ system response, which is what we're asking your body to do. And those are the muscle aches and pains, maybe headache, lymphadenopathy. Very small group get a fever. So if I can implore¹⁵ people who are still nervous to think about it, those are expected responses to your body protecting you, and those are things that we will - I'm certainly expecting to see in the younger group as well. But luckily, there's been no serious side effects reported in those young kids.

FADEL: So what would you say to parents of under-5s about the vaccine if you were to tell them to get it?

BOOGAARD: Yeah, I would say this is all good news. We're going to wait to see what the science says, but Pfizer has reported that it is very safe. And hopefully it will be effective in most kids, but we'll know more in the next few weeks. And just stay hopeful. We're almost through this.

FADEL: That's Dr. Claire Boogaard. She's the medical director of the COVID vaccine program at Children's National and a parent.

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

8 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

9 midst   

n.中部，中间，当中

参考例句：

• The hut is in the midst of the forest.小屋在森林深处。
• There is a thief in our midst.我们当中有小偷。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

12 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

13 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

14 immune   

adj.免疫的，有免疫力的，不受影响的，免除的

参考例句：

• I am immune from the disease,for I had it once.我对这病有免疫力，因为我已得过一次了。
• Be immune from corruption.拒腐蚀，永不沾。

15 implore   

vt.乞求，恳求，哀求

参考例句：

• I implore you to write. At least tell me you're alive.请给我音讯，让我知道你还活着。
• Please implore someone else's help in a crisis.危险时请向别人求助。