Parent to Parent: Kids and the Covid vaccine

HOUSTON - In this week's Parent to Parent segment, we are talking about Covid vaccines and kids.

Do the two go together or not? Parents are all over the spectrum when it comes to the answer.

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We ask one of the leading doctors in the area about the most common ones to make sure you make the best decision for your child.

The decision to get 11-year-old twins, Quinn and Ryan, the Covid vaccine hasn’t been made yet.

We spoke with their mother, Meagan Clanahan, who says she wants to know all the facts before making the decision.

"When we do stuff with our kids, and put them through things, I want to know all the things. I do have a daughter that has a congenital heart defect, so I feel I need to do more research on the myocarditis, and things they are saying about that and heart inflammation and making sure that won’t be a concern for her."

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We took her concern, which is a common one, to Dr. Stan Spinner, who is the chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Pediatrics.

"It’s extremely rare, and when it happens, it is treated with mild Motrin or Advil over the counter. It usually goes away in a couple of days. What we do know is that the Covid 19 infection is significantly more likely to cause Myocarditis, anywhere from six to 30 times more likely," said Dr. Spinner.

"As far as long-term effects, one of the most important things people should know is that in the history of vaccines given in this country, that is going back 100 years, if there’s going to be an adverse reaction, we see it in the first several weeks. We do not see it suddenly five or 10 years later," he said. "We know that the safety data is there. We are not seeing significant problems."

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Another common question- does my child even need it?

Dr. Spinner says, "Unfortunately, again it is really rare for a child to die from Covid. It has become one of the common causes of death in this country, which is something most people just can’t imagine because we do so well in keeping our kids safe. Kids get sick and get what we call the ‘long Covid’ where kids are not capable of doing things they could normally do. We are talking healthy kids that are in amazing shape and short of breath and still in a brain fog."

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"As a parent, that’s our number one obligation, keep our children safe. What’s the best way we can do that? That’s to give them the Covid vaccine," he said.