HEALTHY FAMILY
If your child has already had
COVID-19 is vaccination still
important? While a COVID-19 vaccine is not required
to enter schools this year in Maryland and
Pennsylvania, it is required for ages 12 and
older in Washington, D.C. State and local
officials also recommend it.

While most people have been primarily
concerned about older adults getting seri-
ously ill from COVID-19, children aren’t
immune to serious illness. COVID-19 was
the third to fifth leading cause of death
between 2020 and 2021 across most age
groups, according to Krugman, and an arti-
cle published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association cites COVID-19 as the
fourth leading cause of death for ages 15-24
from January to October in 2021.

“The immune response might protect the
child in the future or it might not,” Krugman
says. “Children with mild cases may not have
a big immune response to the virus and may
still be at risk of getting it.”
According to Krugman, for the best pro-
tection, children who have had COVID-19
should still get the vaccine. After having
COVID-19, you can wait three months after
your infection before getting vaccinated,
according to the CDC.

For the best protection heading back into
the school year, parents should be sure to
take their child to get a booster shot about
five months after their COVID-19 vaccina-
tion, according to Krugman.

Why are vaccination rates
dropping? According to pediatricians, the primary
cause for vaccine rates dropping is medical
misinformation, aided by the ease of infor-
mation sharing online.

“There was a lot of opportunity for people
to provide misinformation to make parents
scared of the vaccine. Once you go down the
rabbit hole of vaccine misinformation on the
internet for (COVID-19), it’s easy to find
that for all vaccines,” Krugman says.

Because people are no longer used to
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seeing many of the diseases vaccines protect
us from, many don’t understand how serious
they can be. Krugman says that COVID-19
has exacerbated this issue greatly.

The best place to get information about
vaccines, their benefits and any risks is
directly from your child’s pediatrician.

“It’s important to share your particu-
lar concerns with your healthcare provider
so that they can have a meaningful conver-
sation with you that is individualized and
builds trust,” Lockwood says.

If your child is anxious about getting
a vaccine, understanding why vaccines
are important can help them overcome
their fears.

For older children, Lockwood recom-
mends a more scientific approach. For
younger children, the answer could be as
simple as, “to keep us healthy.” Telling your
children about your experience getting vac-
cinated can also help them see it’s not bad
or that scary. T
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