Bechara Choucair: “We have a vaccine that is very safe and effective for kids”

WHITE HOUSE VACCINATIONS COORDINATOR SEND A MESSAGE TO 5 TO 11 KID’S PARENTS

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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Interview with Bechara Choucair, White House Vaccinations Coordinator.

Jesus Sanchez: In Colorado, the vaccination of minors between the ages of five and eleven has already begun. What is happening in the rest of the country?

Bechara Choucair: It’s an exciting day for everybody across the country. We’re having kids getting vaccinated in every state of the country, and we do expect this program to be in its full strength starting next week. So, we want to get as many kids ages five to eleven vaccinated as possible.

JS: What is your message to parents who are considering taking their children for vaccinations?

BC: There are a lot of parents out there today who are ready to get their kids vaccinated right away, and we want to make it as easy and as convenient for them to be able to get their kids vaccinated. At the same time, we know there are a lot of parents who are going to have questions about the vaccines, and these are legitimate questions, and we need to do everything we can to get them answers. And that’s why we’re recommending the parents who have questions about the vaccine to talk to their pediatrician, talk to their family physicians, ask their questions so that they can get facts, they can get information. And I have no doubt that when people will get those answers, they will be more inclined to getting their kids vaccinated.

JS: What is your message to these parents who are reluctant to go vaccinate their children?

BC: Well, what I tell parents is we have a gold standard process in place here in the United States that starts with the FDA, its advisory committee, with the CDC, its advisory committee. And that process is a data driven process and a science driven process. It plays out publicly, and the recommendation was at the end of this process is for kids five to 11 to get vaccinated. We have a vaccine that’s very safe, very effective, and the recommendation is to get those kids vaccinated so we can all protect them, protect our families, protect our communities, and we can all celebrate the holidays with more fun and less concern about COVID-19.

JS: Give a suggestion for the parent to prepare the kids to be vaccinated.

BC: The most important thing to do is to be able to get that appointment schedule. Talk to your kid about it, take your kid there, get the vaccine and it’s going to be as easy as a quick one to three. The shot is in and out and the kid is going to be fun.

JS: What is the difference between the vaccine that the kid older than twelve are receiving from the vaccine that the younger than eleven would receive?

BC: The Pfizer vaccine for kids five to eleven is a 10-microgram dose of the vaccine for adolescents and adults. The vaccine for adults is a 30 microgram, so it’s the same active ingredient. It’s a third of the dose and it’s done in a formulation that’s specific for kids and that comes with the supplies that’s appropriate for kids as well. So you have smaller needles to make it easier to get the kid five to eleven vaccinated. We’re excited about it. We have 28 million kids in this country who are ages five to eleven, and we’d want to get as many of those kids vaccinated as possible.