COVID-19 in Kids: Vaccine Benefits & Risks (Dr. Janine McCready)

Dr. Janine McCready, an infectious disease physician, joins Dr. Chana Davis to talk about COVID-19 and kids. They discuss the impact of COVID-19 on kids and the rest of society, and share their thoughts on vaccinating their own young children.

 

Dr. McCready treats patients at the Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) in Toronto and has been supporting schools and childcare centres in East Toronto throughout the pandemic. She is also Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and Associate Director of Infection Prevention and Control at MGH.

 

Some of the questions covered include:

 

- How can I tell if my kid has COVID-19?

- Which kids are at higher risk of severe COVID-19?

- Do healthy kids need to worry too?

- What role do kids play in spreading COVID-19 to others?

- How do the risks associated with vaccines for kids stack up against the burden of COVID-19 infections? Short term? Long term? 

 

Note: This episode was recorded in October 2021, when COVID-19 vaccine trials in kids (5-11) were completed but had not yet been approved and rolled out.

 

Studies:

Characteristics of children admitted to hospital with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in Canada in 2020

Predicting SARS-CoV-2 infections for children and youth with single symptom screening

 

COVID-19 resource for the public:

ScienceUpFirst - fighting misinformation with digestible science on social media

Health Canada COVID-19 resources

Public Health Ontario COVID-19 resources

 

More from Dr. McCready:

Dr. McCready at the Micheal Garron Hospital

Dr. McCready on Twitter