Why we need to get vaccinated—for our children
Will it lower the health risks?
The debate on taking the vaccine is still ongoing, which means we need to gather more information on making one of the most important decisions in our lives—not only for us, but for the whole family as well. More so for parents with children who are not allowed to get the vaccine yet. And with the rise of the Delta variant spreading and infecting people, parents are on red alert mode.
In a recent Facebook post by pediatric neurologist Cherie Tecson-delos Santos, she shares some of the challenges these doctors and health workers face in relation to the dreaded virus. One of their patients, an eight-month old baby, succumbed to COVID-19. His parents didn't believe that COVID-19 exists.
Dr. delos Santos told Manila Bulletin Lifestyle that a lot of people left comments in her post asking her how they could protect their children from COVID-19. She shares these three reminders on how to minimize the risks of getting infected.
- Get vaccinated.
Vaccinated patients have been found to have lower viral loads. So even if you get infected, the chances of getting sick and passing a high viral load to your child is less likely. Less viral load equals less chance of transmission equals less severe infection for you and those you will infect. - Practice minimum health protocols.
Vaccinated individuals can still pass the virus to unvaccinated contacts, so it’s important to keep practicing minimum health protocols such as wearing of face mask, maintaining physical distance, lessening interaction to less than 15 minutes, and avoid places with poor ventilation. - Vaccination decreases health risks.
Vaccination effectively protects the family, because all approved vaccines are proven to significantly decrease the chances of death and hospitalization from COVID.
In an NBCnews article, Dr. Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, affirmed, “Vaccination is not a full-armored vest; rather, it is our best protection. I can’t say there’s no risk, but I can say the risk is really low.”