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Old 01-12-2022, 06:36 PM   #1077
Jimmy Stang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay View Post
This isn't a personal attack as it applies to a large population; but parents/people who worry about COVID for their kids who do not have extreme co-morbidities are doing themselves a huge disservice due to the anxiety, worry, and even moreso those that project the worry onto children as well. The serious illness and mortality rates for kids are so far below other diseases & contagions that no one worries about on a daily basis that COVID should be lumped in with the flu, meningitis, and the lot.

"Hoping we can avoid omicron" - unfortunately it looks like no one will. So prepare as best you can, avoid the vulnerable (who should be doing their best to protect themselves anyways), but go on, live life. Don't worry about COVID as a major risk if you're healthy and kids are. Don't let it add anxiety or stress to your life unnecessarily; its gonna be around for a long time and you're going to get it, vaccinated or not, asymptomatic or not, you'll get it (if you havn't already, and even then).
You're not wrong, but parents may be concerned about outcomes other than death. Long Covid, MIS-C, etc. are real and do impact children, although we don't yet know to what extent. Anecdotally, I know a healthy, energetic kid that has not been the same since infection, albeit that was before vaccines were available and it was Delta. But there's a whole range of outcomes that are less than dying or requiring hospitalization.

Also, parents may not want their kids to transmit to classmates, family, and friends that may be in a higher risk category. Or transmit to anyone. Just because they may not end up in hospital themselves, unrestrained community spread will become a burden on the hospitals, and would rather not contribute to it.

And lastly, the people who are moving their appointments up aren't necessarily doing it out of fear of catching it, but are doing exactly what you say : preparing for when, not if, you catch it. Kids, like everyone else, fare better when vaccinated. And the odds of catching it during this Omicron wave are pretty elevated, so the earlier the second dose can be administered, the better.

I don't disagree with a lot of what you say, but the decision for moving appointments up isn't necessarily driven by anxiety and fear, but rather a sensible response to the new variant, and being prepared for when it passes through the class, household, sports team, etc.
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