With children’s vaccine available, Covid restrictions may phase out
On Nov. 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the Pfizer-BioNTech’s child-size coronavirus vaccine — a low dose intended for children 5 to 11 — which, if parents decide to vaccinate their kids, gives doctors and school officials hope for returning to pre-Covid normalcy, including the elimination of mask mandates in schools.
Masks are now required by the state in all public and private schools. With the new vaccine, which is one-third the dosage of the normal Pfizer shot, schools, including those in the Lawrence district, are awaiting guidance from the state Department of Health on any changes in regulations or guidelines.
“I hope that we’ll know soon,” Lawrence Superintendent Dr. Anne Pedersen said, “because I think that if parents make the choice to vaccinate their children, one of the incentives for doing that might be that they realize the child might not have to wear a mask in school.”
Dr. Marc Sicklick, a Cedarhurst allergist-immunologist, has practiced immunology for 40 years, and supports the distribution of the new Pfizer vaccine, which is 90.7 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, according to Food and Drug Administration data.
After children receive vaccinations, Sicklick said, “I think that we will be approaching the more normal world, one step further down the road.”
The “more normal world” includes mask-free schools, which Sicklick is in favor of, if parents keep their children at home when they’re feeling sick to minimize exposure.
Sicklick noted that the virus “is not devastating in children,” adding, “and I worry that we’re doing more harm to them by isolating them. Younger kids go to school, to a degree, for socialization, not just book knowledge, and we’re really depriving them of it. Masking separates kids.”
Although it has been a challenging time for students, Pedersen said, “The children have demonstrated tremendous resilience. They are social and happy to be in school, the masks seem almost second nature to them now — they’re pretty comfortable, it looks like, with them.”
It is still possible that children are missing important aspects of socialization just by wearing masks. Although people have expressive eyes, Pedersen added, “There’s some of the nuances of language expression that come from the face that especially young children are missing out on,” and “getting those verbal cues from facial expressions” are an important part of normalcy.
Dr. Ralph Marino Jr., superintendent of the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, said that the district had not received any official guidance on quarantine requirements for vaccinated children ages 5 to 11. “When and if we receive guidance, we would adjust our protocols,” Marino wrote in an email. “We will continue to share vaccine opportunities with the community.”
Whether the state does away with mask mandates in schools may depend on how many parents decide to vaccinate their children.
Six in 10 children in New York who are 12 and older are already vaccinated, according to officials at Cohen Children’s Medical Center at Northwell Health. That leaves 40 percent of that age group unvaccinated, even though the vaccine has been available since May.
Officials at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, such as Chief of General Pediatrics Dr. Sophia Jan, say they hope the vaccine will restore a sense of normalcy.
“Being vaccinated will make it so much easier for our youngsters to get back to their normal lives,” Jan stated in a Nov. 4 news release. “Not only will they be able to get back to school and enjoy the holidays, but the important things — like hugging their parents and visiting their grandparents — we can start thinking about these things again.”
Sicklick said he believed that dishonest media representation could be playing a role in vaccine hesitancy, and that people should trust their doctors.
The vaccines are not risk-free, but it is even more vital to be vaccinated, he said, because the Delta and Delta plus variants of Covid are more contagious.
“I have not found very many competent doctors saying not to vaccinate,” Sicklick said. “There may be, among pediatricians, some hesitation about giving this new vaccine, because they don’t think the need is that great. It doesn’t mean that it’s not safe; it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a benefit. Everything in medicine has [a] risk-benefit ratio.”
In the Five Towns, the Pfizer-BioNTech children’s vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds is available at the CVS pharmacies at 1740 Broadway in Hewlett and at 929 Broadway in Woodmere. The CVS in Inwood does not offer the shot. Due to the recent demand, CVS recommends making an appointment on its website, CVS.com/vaccines.
Have an opinion on Covid-19 vaccines? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.
