County outpaces state in 5-11 child vaccination rate as youth COVID cases surge nationwide

As youth COVID-19 cases surge across the United States, local pediatricians convened to urge residents to vaccinate their children as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, Monroe County Board of Health member and retired pediatrician Dr. Carol Litten Touloukian hosted a town hall to deliver sobering statistics related to COVID-19's impact on children in the United States and how the nearly 10,000 Monroe County residents aged 5 to 11 can be protected against the virus.

On the plus side, nearly 25% of Monroe County children ages 5-11 have been partially vaccinated in the month since they became eligible for the shots. That's well ahead of the statewide statistic: 10.6% of Indiana children ages 5-11 have received a first dose of the two-dose childhood COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Indiana Department of Health's statewide dashboard.

As reported Sept. 9, 40% of all COVID-19 cases nationwide were in children under the age of 18, according to a state-level data report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. In the United States, there were more than 20,436 hospitalizations of children as of early September and 731 child deaths due to the virus as of Nov. 24.

COVID in children more likely to be mild, but still a risk

COVID-19 has remained in the top 10 leading causes of death in children in the United States for the past several months, according to separate reports from The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Food and Drug Administration. In Monroe County, there have been no COVID-related deaths of residents younger than 30 recorded.

But county residents cannot be too careful, according to local health officials.

"(Children with COVID) is not rare, and it does cause problems," Touloukian said.

While younger people are more likely to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, the COVID-19 virus can have long-term effects such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or another condition coined "long COVID."

While extremely rare, MIS-C is a serious and life-threatening condition that can occur two to six weeks after the COVID-19 infection. It prompts an autoimmune response that causes inflammation in several parts of the body, including lungs, heart, skin, kidneys, brain or stomach. According to the town hall panelists, 75% to 90% of cases have occurred in children who were considered healthy prior to COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still studying MIS-C and how it affects children; the CDC is still unsure why some children have gotten sick with MIS-C while most others have not.

Only 142 cases of MIS-C have been identified in Indiana so far.

Long-term effects of COVID

Between 10% and 20% of children who have had COVID-19 also have been seen to develop "long COVID," which can occur within three months after infection and lasts for at least two months. Some symptoms of this condition include fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive dysfunction (commonly referred to as "brain fog").

In contrast to the virus' long-term impact, the COVID-19 vaccine has not demonstrated any lasting negative impacts.

COVID surging in children

During her presentation, Touloukian noted that there is a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases in children right now.

In the week of Oct. 1, 20% to 23% of total COVID-19 cases in the United States were of children. In the week of Nov. 13, it spiked to 40%.

"That's over the course of six weeks (and) that doesn't include the last two or three weeks. It continues to go up," Touloukian said.

Of the national COVID-19 cases in children, the group that is contracting COVID-19 at the highest rate is the 5-11 age group, Touloukian reported. Vaccinations for that group have only been available since early November, after approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last month: Monroe County readies for COVID-19 vaccination of children ages 5 to 11

With COVID cases surging among 5- to 11-year-olds nationwide, local pediatricians at the town hall agreed that now is the time to get as many of those children vaccinated as possible.

County seeing high demand for vaccine

In Monroe County, so many children already are getting vaccinated that the demand has outpaced the county's supply of appointments.

More: Vaccine appointments are hard to get in Monroe County. Here's why and where else to look

While appointments are more difficult to come by in the county, residents can frequently check local pharmacies, their pediatrician's office and ourshot.in.gov for any available appointments within or outside the county.

The COVID vaccine: myths vs. facts

To promote understanding of the vaccine, Touloukian went over basic facts of the children's COVID-19 vaccine, which is an mRNA vaccine.

Touloukian said the mRNA vaccine is injected into muscle cells, such as in one's arm. The vaccine instructs the cells to produce a harmless piece of what is called the spike protein. One's immune system will then recognize that the protein doesn’t belong there, triggering the production of antibodies and other immune cells to fight off what it thinks is an infection.

"mRNA stands for messenger RNA and that's all it is — it's just the messenger. It's not a virus. It's not anything that could cause you to get infected. It is just a messenger that tells your body to make the spike protein, which is not a virus," Touloukian said.

The vaccine also does not interact with one's DNA in any way, and the mRNA and the spike protein don’t remain in the body. The body's cells will begin to break down the spike protein very quickly following vaccination.

"It's a good vaccine. It doesn't cause disease. It doesn't change your DNA," Touloukian said.

Children aged 5 to 11 receive a childhood dose of the same Pfizer vaccine adults can get. The dose for 5- to 11-year-olds is one-third of the amount in the adult dose. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson both have trials underway looking at the use of their vaccines in children, but they have yet to receive federal approval.

Touloukian and several pediatricians went on to describe the benefits of children becoming vaccinated.

Fully vaccinated children are six times less likely to become infected if exposed to COVID-19. Children who are fully vaccinated also do not have to quarantine if they are asymptomatic after being exposed to the virus at school or other places.

It can also better protect those around the child. A family who vaccinates their children who are 5 and older can also protect any younger siblings who are unable to get the vaccine yet as well as any older people with weakened immune systems.

The town hall, which answers several common questions related children and the COVID-19 vaccine, can be viewed in full at catstv.net.

Contact Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com or @RachelSmithNews on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: As child COVID cases surge in nation, Monroe County urges vaccination