Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and CNN medical analyst, recently talked with CNN about what parents can do with their children now that the vaccine has been released to more people.
- Wen said getting children some semblance of normal starts with parents being vaccinated.
- “Having parents vaccinated is an important step to reducing risk, even if children are not yet vaccinated, but there are still steps that must be taken to protect the kids — and everyone around us — from COVID-19,” she told CNN.
Here’s a breakdown of what Wen said about parents. I advise you to read the entire interview at CNN, which covers a lot more details.
Can your family hang out with another family?
- “If there are three families, all with unvaccinated children, that want to get together for an extended period of time and want to be in a shared space like a house, I would suggest they all quarantine and test,” Wen said.
Should parents bring their children to restaurants?
- Wen said families can make their own decisions about eating in restaurants.
- “The risk isn’t zero, but probably pretty low, at outdoor restaurants. Indoors, that risk is going to be higher. I’d be particularly cautious if there’s a child who is immunosuppressed or has additional risk factors for severe COVID-19.”
Can your child have play dates and birthday parties?
- Wen said she’d feel better if she knew all the adults at the party had been vaccinated.
- “I’d still make sure that the get-together occurs outdoors and that there is at least 6-foot distancing between families. Everyone should be wearing masks. The same goes for play dates, family reunions and other gatherings.”
When will children be vaccinated?
It’s still unclear when children will receive the COVID-19 vaccine since the vaccines circulating right now are for those 16 years and older. But Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge recently told the “Today” show that there might be more data by the fall.
“We expect to have data from that 12- to 17-(year-old) TeenCove study, hopefully perhaps by the summer, so we could be vaccinating adolescents going into the school year,” he told Today.com.
In February, Dr. Anthony Fauci said children will likely get vaccinated before the end of summer, according to The Associated Press.
- “Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have children being able to be vaccinated,” Fauci said.