An Open Letter to My 10-Year-Old Son -- Happy Vaccination Day

from your epidemiologist mama

Dear C —

Happy Vaccination Day!

You received your first dose of the COVID vaccine today (you were part of the control/placebo group in the clinical trial).

You may have been a little anxious in the moment, but the shot was over so fast.

And while I expect (given that I have talked nonstop about viruses, vaccines, and disease prevention throughout your life) you understand the importance of the COVID vaccine, I want to share with you how important this vaccine is to you and just how proud of you I am that you stepped up without fear or complaint to participate in the clinical trial and to get your real first shot.

(As I have told you and your sister so many times) My passion and calling in life is to create healthy communities. I am committed to preventive health care; love public health research; advocate for vaccines and other forms of primary prevention; and have dedicated my career to educating the next generation of public health professionals. I write books and do news interviews as part this work. And you have become so well versed in my world of public health that you once told me after I completed a news segment with Eva Mastromatteo (at Erie News Now) that “you could have answered all of her questions!” Smarty-pants.

As I have said to you many times, the COVID vaccines are safe and effective (more below). You being vaccinated means you have individual immunity that will protect you from severe disease, hospitalizations, and death. Additionally, being vaccinated means you are contributing to our community’s immunity. Your vaccine will help to improve our family’s health, our city’s health, and the health of others worldwide.

Personally, I am so glad you are able to get the vaccine. I know you do not remember this, but you were hospitalized (in isolation) for a week when you were only 15 months old. A nasty GI (gastrointestinal) bug — likely rotavirus — made you very ill. We were unable to keep you hydrated at home. You went from a fun-loving playful toddler to an exhausted, barely moving lump of a kid in a matter of hours (it was scary!). After a 10 hour ER visit, where they tried to rehydrate you and get your kidneys functioning properly, you were admitted to Children’s National Hospital (in DC). You spent a week in isolation receiving IV fluids; every ounce of fluids that went into you was measured and compared to how much was coming out of you. It was messy work.

A virus (that is common, but "harmless” and “not super dangerous”) made you very, very sick.

Kids in tiny hospital gowns are really stinking cute; however, being with a sick kid in the hospital is anything but cute. Watching your kid suffer from any illness is the hard work of being a parent.

When I think of children in the hospital with COVID, I remember our time in the hospital with you. I know firsthand how dangerous common viruses can be to a child’s health — not just because I understand the data, but because I have lived through it with you. And what I learned after a week in the hospital with you - watching you suffer, watching them stick you with IVs and draw blood, watching your caretakers suit up in full PPE before entering your hospital room - is that as a parent it is my job to take every step necessary to prevent you from getting sick.

Keeping an IV in a 15 month old’s arm is hard work. C’s arm was splinted for most of our stay in the hospital and they put the IV in his dominant arm so that if he tried to pull it out he’d be doing so with his non-dominant hand.

Primary prevention means — that I get you vaccinated, ensure you wash your hands properly, teach you sneeze and cough etiquette, ensure you are wearing your mask, work with you (and the rest of the family) to clean our house (to avoid rodents, dust, and other hazards), check the fire alarms, feed you healthy foods, ensure you get time outside every day, make you move your body… the list is long. And it has grown even longer since the start of the pandemic. But it my responsibility to prevent you from getting sick. And I’m going to be teaching you at every step along the way what I am doing so that you can prevent diseases by yourself in the future.

In terms of the COVID vaccine, I want you to know…

The vaccine is safe. The clinical trials of the vaccine showed that kids in your age group did suffer side effects — sore arms (like yours today), fatigue (I know, you’re never tired), and mild fevers. There were no cases of Bells Palsy, anaphylactic shock, blood clots, MIS-C, or death caused by the vaccine. There is talk about an increased risk of myocarditis; however, this risk is so super small that the benefits of the vaccine FAR OUTWEIGH the risk. And the risk of mycarditis exists for those who are unvaccinated and are diagnosed with COVID. Know that I am watching for signs of myocarditis (and please tell me if you feel off in the slightest way), but I am confident that you will be healthier getting the vaccine than not getting it.

The vaccine is effective. The vaccine will stimulate your immune system and provide you with the ability to fight off infection after you’ve been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

You are responsible for working to end the epidemic of misinformation that is plaguing our society (do you see the pun there?!? see… I can be funny). You have the responsibility to check your sources, ask questions, and to never spread information you do not understand with your friends. Seek out the truth; share it with conviction.

There is A LOT of evidence showing that the COVID vaccine does not cause long-term harm. The vaccine ingredients will be out of your body before your parent-teacher-student conference next week!

Getting your vaccine protects you and our community. I probably sound like a broken record, but your health is intimately tied to the health of those in our family and in our community (our local and global community). One of the many lessons this pandemic has taught us is that community health needs to be prioritized. We need to prioritize “health in all policies.” We need global vaccine access and acceptance.

By getting this vaccine, you are contributing to a global effort to end this pandemic; to stop community spread of this virus; and to fight the epidemic of misinformation. You are also creating individual immunity that will allow you to thrive and be healthy. You getting the COVID vaccine means our family will be fully vaccinated. Trips to Legoland, Harry Potter World, and Yosemite (again) are possible in the near future; as are visits with uncles, aunts, and cousins that we haven’t seen since BC (before COVID). I am super excited for what the future holds. And I am so proud of you.

Love, your epidemiologist mama