196: Vaccines for Children
I was surprised to hear that it'll likely be a long time before children are vaccinated against COVID-19, even though vaccinating them would seem necessary to get the virus out of our communities.
It’s common for vaccines to be tested on adults first, but none of the pharma companies in the U.S. are testing their vaccines for their effectiveness in children.
Even though kids have a relatively low risk (almost zero) of having a severe case or dying from COVID, they still can spread the disease. So, if they aren’t vaccinated, they become the weak link.
It seems like the plan is to vaccinate vulnerable adults first — which could include teachers and school staff — and then see what to do with the remaining people.
Whenever that time does come to vaccinate kids, there’s going to be some big decisions to make because if the pharma companies move too fast, we will all question whether the product is safe. But, if we move too slow and the virus will be with us longer and the pandemic will stretch on and on.
Other Stuff
This is Ross and Monica’s dad from Friends and where is our 10 episode series on this!
Corona
In the world, more than 1 million people have now died from coronavirus — India the second country after U.S. to hit 6 million cases.
A new analysis by the CDC shows that the virus is more common in teenagers than younger children.
We’re flat as a country in terms of new cases, so let’s keep it like this. Stay safe everyone.
Only 64 more days to go