What are you sharing with that mom or dad who has to make a decision to get their kids vaccinated?
I recommend that all of my patients, age 5 and older, be vaccinated. Kids don’t always want to wear their masks correctly. So it’s a lot of transmission in schools now since Omicron is so transmissible. I recommend that they get vaccinated. I recommend that they ask questions, seek their healthcare provider to make sure that they are eligible for the vaccine. Most importantly, go to trusted sources if they have questions and talk to their providers about the vaccine and about COVID-19. It’s very important for them to be vaccinated.
How does it feel to know that there are vaccines to help reduce severe illness, but people are still uncertain?
Everyone has their own level of understanding about the virus. To be honest, things have changed a lot. As it relates to the recommendations, the information is a lot of misinformation. You can’t get upset, but you have to understand and be compassionate about people being hesitant, or not fully understanding what’s going on because there are so many different messages. The medical community and the scientific community are learning about this virus in real-time. We’re learning about this virus, as everyone is learning together. And so things change as the virus changes. We have variants, and when the variants change, the recommendations change.
