U.S. parents begin to ask: Should my child get a COVID-19 shot? – By Michael Erman & Gabriella Borter (Reuters) / April 16 2021
Tristen Sweeten, a 34-year-old nurse in Utah, hopes her three children will receive Moderna’s (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine through its pediatric clinical trial. The sooner the better, she said, for their safety and the greater goal of ending the pandemic.
Angie Ankoma, a 45-year-old Black mother of four who works in philanthropy in Rhode Island, believes trials must include diverse populations and participated in one for a COVID-19 vaccine herself. Volunteering her kids for possible inclusion in Moderna’s trial was a tougher call.
Sweeten and Ankoma are among thousands of U.S. parents who volunteered to have their children participate in new trials run by Pfizer (PFE.N) with BioNTech or Moderna, the first companies making strides toward developing a safe COVID-19 vaccine for the country’s 48 million children under age 12.
Health officials say vaccines are crucial to ending the pandemic. But many are concerned vaccine hesitancy in some adults will be even more pronounced when it comes to their children. Parents may question the risks versus benefits, given the unknowns about the vaccines’ long-term impact on childrens’ development and data on how few young kids have been hit hard by COVID-19.
CONTINUE > https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-parents-begin-ask-should-my-child-get-covid-19-shot-2021-04-16/
