Pediatricians have always been at the forefront of pediatric preventative care. The most important aspect of preventative health in children is of course immunizations. We are trained and experienced in discussing vaccines and addressing parents’ questions or hesitation. We have to be able to explain that vaccines are safe and effective, and save lives from many severe diseases, while making families understand this is the right decision for their child. With the Coronavirus pandemic this didn’t change — except it did. And now, every pediatrician has an even more important role to play in immunizing their patients. Big or small practice, 10 patients or 10,000, every vaccine counts.
Early on in the pandemic many families stayed home and skipped routine immunizations, with kids falling behind the recommended immunization schedule. But several months into the pandemic and eventually as schools reopened, they all rushed to catch up. Over the last 21 months, we have pushed through the pandemic often understaffed and always with an overworked team, but we’ve held on to hope.
Last November, we started receiving information from the CDC about becoming COVID-19 vaccinators. At that time, the vaccines were only going through the authorization process for adults, so many pediatricians ignored the emails. Our small pediatric practice, comprised of two full-time and one part-time pediatrician, decided that by vaccinating parents, we can help protect kids. We became vaccinators. In the spring, we finally received our vaccines and held drive-thru clinics for adults. Many were parents of our patients, but many were not. All had one thing in common: they wanted protection against COVID-19.
Then in May, the Pfizer vaccine was finally authorized for kids ages 12 to 15. We were ready. We already knew how to run an efficient drive-thru clinic and decided to hold two more clinics, vaccinating 100 to 130 teens at each. Sure, this sounds like nothing compared to large hospital systems churning out thousands of vaccinations per day, but we’re not in competition — we’re all in this together and every vaccine counts. We continued to vaccinate 10 to 15 patients a day throughout the summer, while also catching up on physicals, seeing a huge spike in RSV, and then experiencing the Delta wave. Pediatricians have been tired and overworked, but we know our task ahead and keep pushing through.
We all were in anticipation of pediatric vaccine authorization, especially with the spike of pediatric hospitalizations and deaths during Delta, a pediatric death toll now nearing 700, and more than 6.5 million children having tested COVID-19 positive since the onset of the pandemic. We’ve seen our colleagues or their children fall ill with COVID-19. We had multiple patients lose a parent. Many of us have young children, and have been scared to infect them or for them to bring it home from school. My 5 and 10-year-old have been talking about getting vaccinated for months despite both being terrified of shots. They were jealous of their teenage brother who got his months ago as part of the study. They all wanted to have normal birthday parties and sleepovers.
While all of us at my practice wanted the pediatric vaccine authorized, none of us knew how our patients would respond. Over the last few months, with all the misinformation, with many of us being attacked at school board meetings and on social media, myself included, we didn’t know what to expect.
There were so many questions:
- Will promoting vaccines prompt more online attacks or bad reviews of our practice?
- Will we even receive the pediatric vaccines or will they be distributed to hospitals and pharmacies, leaving us in the dark with nothing to tell our patients?
- Will none of our patients want the vaccine because of widespread misinformation?
- What if everyone wants them? Do we have the staff? The energy? The resources?
On Tuesday, November 2 — as we all streamed the CDC meeting in between seeing patients and waiting impatiently for authorization — there was a knock on the door. Department of Health delivery: pediatric COVID-19 vaccines. We got them! They were endorsed by the CDC shortly thereafter and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics at the end of the work day.
The next morning, as we arrived at the office early to discuss vaccine logistics, we were greeted by an overwhelming number of emails, Facebook messages, and phones calls. We hadn’t even had a chance to advertise the vaccines, but everyone was already eager to get them.
We started vaccinating the same day. Due to our small size, we were limited to giving about 20 shots a day — but every vaccine counts. Many parents asked whether the vaccine was necessary and if we’d give it to our own kids, which we answered with a resounding, “absolutely.” We quickly realized we had to hold a weekend pediatric vaccination clinic to keep up with demand. Despite being exhausted from just having completed two weekend flu clinics, we felt we had no choice. We had to protect our patients. We quickly planned a weekend drive-thru vaccination clinic — just 5 days after authorization.
On the day of the COVID-19 vaccination clinic, we already had cars lining up around the block more than 30 minutes before the official start time. We were afraid of running out of vaccines but ecstatic that so many people wanted to get their kids vaccinated. We had children show up who were not our patients but didn’t want to wait for their shot. The lines didn’t stop the entire 3 hours of our clinic. We had kids cheering and taking pictures, all from their car. We were showered with coffee and donuts, and heard “thank you” and “gracias” more times than we could count.
In just our small practice, we vaccinated 150 kids in the 5 to 11 age range that day. Every vaccine counts. Many of our pediatric colleagues are worried they don’t have the ability or the manpower to vaccinate. But we need them to know: If we can do it, so can you. Your patients trust you so much more than pharmacies or large hospital-run clinics. They want to ask you, their trusted pediatrician, their questions. Be there for them, answer their questions, vaccinate. Even one vial a day — 10 vaccines — makes a difference, because every vaccine counts.
Eliza Agrest Varadi, MD, is the owner and medical director of Pelican Pediatrics in Charleston, South Carolina.
Last Updated November 09, 2021
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
