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Health Experts Urge Booster For Children

Caitlin Klossner and her husband both received three COVID-19 shots, and her 6-year-old daughter Maura received the first two.

Maura is now eligible for a booster shot, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved booster shots May 19 for children ages 5 to 11 years at least 5 months after completing their primary series.

Klossner didn’t hasten to do that.

“I am not in a major hurry right now with the rates being fairly low in Cortland County,” she said while waiting for her daughter to get out of Homer Elementary School.

Still, Dr. Mohammad Djafari, a Cortland pediatrician, urges the booster shot for children

“As we go along, we also learn more about the vaccine in terms of immunity and it’s safe,” he said. “And children actually have much fewer side effects than adults. It helps to protect and keep them out of the hospitals or ICU.”

It’s also in the interest of the people with compromised immune systems, Djafari said.

“We are giving it for two reasons,” he said. “One is to safeguard the child. Two, we don’t want children to give it to the mother and grandmother, all their siblings and elderly people around and the whole community, especially people with diabetes, and obesity. They are all at risk. We have to think about the community too.”

His office has seen some children come to get the boosters but he would like to see more. The Cortland County Health Department encourages eligible children to get a booster, too.

“Vaccination is the best protection we have against severe disease, hospitalization and death,” said Nicole Anjeski, the county public health director. “We encourage people to reach out to their primary care provider or they can go to www.vaccines.gov to find a provider near them to receive their vaccine.”

Still, some parents remain concerned, Brittany Johnson among them. Her 5-year-old son Micah has contracted the coronavirus before.

“We all recovered OK,” she said outside Homer Elementary School. “I just think he can fight it naturally, relying on a well-balanced diet and his immune system.”

Djafari said some of the concerns are misplaced.

“I hear it all the time from the parents, ‘This is too much,'” he said. “What does that mean, too much? It’s the right amount.”

Klossner said she would probably eventually get her kid boosted.

“So if it looks like you will need that for the next school year, I am not against that,” she said.

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