Vaccine Trials in Children- Thoughts from Parents?

    I woke up to the news that very young children are now being invited to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Given that kids interact with other another and with their families, including grandparents, a lot, they are good targets for vaccines given their ability to spread the virus. Similar to the way the vaccines are currently scheduled, for Pfizer’s trial, all the kids will get their second dose 21 days after the first, and for Moderna, all kids will get it 28 days later. I read multiple articles all over the internet about Dr. Zinaida Good, a research fellow at the Stanford cancer center, who has signed both of her young children (7 months old and 3 years old) up to receive the vaccine as a part of Stanford Hospital’s Pfizer trial. Apparently, neither child felt severe side effects besides sore arms and fatigue, which the rest of us have also experienced with our vaccines. Another doctor, Dr. Angelica Lacour, also enrolled her 3-year-old daughter in the vaccine trial, stating that the reason she did so was for the safety of all children who are not currently eligible for vaccine based protection, not just her own children. 

In thinking about this news, I wondered if I as a parent would enroll my children in a vaccine trial. At this stage in my life, and especially as a product of having been in the Humans and Viruses classes, I understand how important it is to combat viruses that kill millions of people each year. Especially in a situation like this where we are embroiled in a pandemic that has taken so many lives, I think it’s important to be brave and sign up for vaccine trials if you have the ability in order to save potentially generations of humanity. With that being said, perhaps my perspective would change if I actually had kids and actually were presented with the opportunity to enroll my children in a vaccine trial. Then, I think my brain might be telling me one thing and my heart might be telling me something else. I am curious to know if there are any parents reading this blog post (including Dr. Siegel!), would you sign your children up for a vaccine trial during a pandemic? Why or why not? It’s impossible for me to know as a 23 year old without children, as I can only really think in the abstract…

-Komal Kumar, 4/27/21