COVID-19 vaccine now available for kids six months old and up

Lately, we have seen an uptick in the amount of COVID cases in our region. Hospitalization rates have thankfully remained fairly low, but Whitley County Public Health Director Marcy Rein says that the best way to combat against rising infection rates is simply to see more people getting vaccinated.

COVID vaccines have been available for adults for well over a year now, and older children have had the opportunity to receive a shot for several months. Now we are seeing vaccines becoming available for children six months and older, and that medicine is currently available through local pediatricians offices and the Whitley County Health Department.

“We have seen sort of a slow uptick in our incidence rate for multiple weeks now,” Rein said of the current situation concerning COVID-19 infections. “Our hospital capacity has been pretty good, but it is hard to predict how things will go moving forward.”

Rein said spikes in COVID infections have been common during the summertime in recent years, with several contributing factors playing a role. She said that increased travel and people generally letting their guard down during this time of year does aid in the spread of the virus, but she said that the variant cycle and people not getting boosted to protect against those variants are also largely to blame.

“Our vaccination rates continue to not be the best,” Rein said of the local region.

As for the new vaccine options for the youngest age group, Rein said that Moderna and Pfizer both have shots available, but they might be harder to obtain than the vaccines for adults and older kids were.

“Pharmacies cannot provide vaccines to patients less than three-years-old,” Rein explained. “Your pediatric office should be able to provide it, though, and we do have it available at the Health Department.”

Rein said that she expects people to generally be more protective and cautious when it comes to younger children, but she also said that she thinks most people will simply be happy to have another tool to keep kids safe and allow them to continue participating in important school and extra-curricular activities.

In another bit of good news for parents, Rein said that the COVID vaccine will not require any extra trips to a doctor’s office, as it can be incorporated into other regularly scheduled well-child checkups or immunization appointments.

When asked about what needs to happen moving forward in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, Rein said, “Being able to get everyone vaccinated is important, but people have to engage with it. The more people that we get vaccinated and keeping up with their boosters, the better we can maximize our ability to combat the illness.”

Rein pointed parents and guardians of young children, as well as anyone else who might still need to be vaccinated, to www.vaccines.gov in order to obtain more information. The state’s kycovid19.ky.gov website is also still available as a reliable source of information, and the Whitley County Health Department has resources available at www.whitleycountyhealthdepartment.com.

Additional resources:

Rein also pointed to a graphic found on the Center for Disease Control’s official website that outlines recommended doses of the different COVID vaccines available, based on overall health criteria. That can be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19.

The CDC’s website provides additional tools and information, including instructions for how to use the V-Safe after vaccination health tracker system, designed to help monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for recipients of all ages.