With schools going back this week, the potential for COVID-19 spread is incalculable, especially since children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
- The Delta variant poses the biggest threat yet to our children.
- Even when children recover from their initial infections, we’re seeing the same long-haul symptoms that impact adults, including brain fog, fatigue and heart palpitations even months after their diagnoses.
- Niswonger Children’s Hospital and Ballad Health support mandatory mask policies in schools. We encourage parents to have their children wear a mask, even if counties or cities do not require it in schools.
- We recommend that children 12 and older receive the vaccine.
- The No. 1 way to protect children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, is for all of the adults around them to get vaccinated themselves.
- Parents should also make sure their children are staying up-to-date on all other routine vaccinations.
