Editorial: Parental support for kids vaccine can make difference

Tribune-Review | Tuesday, November 9, 2021 6:01 a.m.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Arpit Mehta, director of pharmacy at Allegheny General Hospital, shows a box containing frozen vials of of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 through 12 before shipping the vaccines out to Allegheny Health Network pediatric offices throughout the region on Thursday at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Covid-19 has been a disease fraught with hot-button aspects: The masks. The mandates. The shutdowns. The treatments.

And the vaccines. Eleven months after the first Pfizer-BioNTech injections were administered to front-line health care workers, about 61% of Pennsylvanians have been vaccinated, but there is still pushback from certain quarters — including prison guards and police.

With last week’s approval of a pediatric dose for kids 5 to 11 years old, it might seem like a new opportunity for opposition — and there undoubtedly will be from some people. But not all.

When mask mandates were put into place for schools, it was easy to focus on those who were not in favor. Just like those who were against masks or other restrictions in restaurants or stores, the loud voices drew attention. The signs caught the eye. However, there was no way to quantify exactly how many people were OK with the masks.

With the vaccines, there is a way. You can count them. There have been 432 million doses administered nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 18.1 million have gone into Pennsylvania arms.

The response to child dose availability is just as good a measure of how parents feel. Are they in favor of seeing their children vaccinated?

The early numbers suggest support. UPMC reported 10,000 appointments scheduled across the health system in the first 24 hours. Giant Eagle pharmacies are offering it. Allegheny Health Network is offering pediatric vaccine clinics on Pittsburgh’s North Side and in Bridgeville and Wexford in coming weeks.

To keep support, availability has to continue to be widespread and easy. UPMC’s decision to offer the vaccines in pediatricians’ offices where families already have relationships is smart. It is beneficial not only because it can put kids at ease but also because it doesn’t concentrate the appointments in just a day or two here and there.

Vaccinating children should show dividends. On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that those hotly contested mask mandates for schools could be lifted in January, leaving the decision up to school districts instead.

Parents embracing the vaccine have an opportunity to help schools get back to a pre-covid kind of normality.