Vaccinating American children does not ignore Indian adults

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on Monday, FDA approved Pfizer’s BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for Children from 12 to 15 years old, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunization practice advisory committee is scheduled to vote on the use of this age group on Wednesday. This is at a time when a pandemic is raging across our borders, and many adults in Asia, Latin America and Africa are still not vaccinated. This has sparked a debate about the ethics of vaccinating children in the United States. This is a false reciprocity, and it is a useless conversation that cannot be helpful to adults or children.

Yes, it is true that children rarely die from Covid-19 (although some die). Yes, most children are indeed not hospitalized for Covid-19 (although many of them, especially those with weakened immune systems or other underlying diseases).Older children spread SARS-CoV-2 at a rate similar to adults. New data this week shows that children account for Of all new infections in the United States, 24% (From about 2% in April 2020), this may be due to the success of our adult vaccination program. A big unknown is whether children will suffer from long-term infections (called acute sequelae), given the typical mild symptoms in the acute phase. We do know that a small number of children will develop a disease called multiple system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), which can be life-threatening. However, as with any topic related to Covid, it is not just the ratio of infections and deaths. Evidence of the mental health effects on children and adolescents, their learning losses and the withdrawal of women with children from the workforce is well documented. These are the big problems that we have not yet begun to solve.

As working parents of three healthy children (one who has been vaccinated, one who is newly eligible, and one who is not yet eligible), they have a comfortable income, good Internet access, and local schools are compliant with science-based Covid-19 Agreement, so it is undoubtedly tempting to think that my 15-year-old vaccine dose will be better than elsewhere. But is this actually a useful question? As a starting point, for example, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has not yet been approved for use in India, although this situation will definitely change. We know that India needs oxygen, PPE and other medical supplies, and Americans can and should donate to this work in many ways. The Indian Task Force of the Lancet Covid-19 Committee has called for a series of actions to contain the infection, including the following measures: 5 million doses of vaccine every day For people over 45 years old. They estimate that India’s current production can reach half of the target, and if financial resources and raw materials can be provided, the production capacity may be greatly increased. This effort may bring long-term benefits to India, which is worth less than 4 days of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (5 million doses per day) (if all 17 million 12-15 year old vaccines can contribute) The elderly in the United States give up immunization.

The Biden administration issued a fact sheet on April 28 outlining Covid-19’s emergency assistance to India, which outlines $100 million in aid, Including AstraZeneca vaccine production supplies.In addition, the United States Still in stock AstraZeneca vaccines are unlikely to be approved here. These vaccines should be sent directly to countries where they can be used now, rather than shelving them on the shelf. Many people criticized the government’s response for insufficient, especially in regard to intellectual property considerations related to the Covid-19 vaccine. These vital discussions should be placed at the forefront of news reports. The hypothetical ethical discussions on Twitter and the citations of children’s vaccines in the news on some public health topics have attracted attention. of course Children should be vaccinated.with of course The United States should promote global access to vaccines.

As a pediatric HIV expert, I have seen children ranked last time and time again when approving life-saving HIV drugs. In fact, it can be said that the biggest recent advancement in the field of pediatric HIV is that a brave doctor in Mississippi chose to use a non-guideline-driven approach for treatment. Take care of the newborn, Desperately trying to prevent the spread of HIV. “Baby in Mississippi“This has led to numerous clinical trials and inspired new ways to study HIV cures in children.

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