MURRAY – A few school districts in Utah have begun giving high school students, 16 years and older, the COVID-19 vaccine, while other districts are investigating the idea.
A health expert cites several critical reasons why the community needs teens to roll up their sleeves.
“We all need to get herd immunity,” said Dr. Tamara Sheffield, medical director of Community Health and Prevention, of Intermountain Healthcare said.
Summit County and Tooele County health departments have begun setting up Pfizer vaccination clinics at the high schools for students with parental consent.
Canyons School District officials said they were investigating the idea after a survey was sent to parents.
Many age-qualified students at Park City High School did their part on Monday and received their first dose of Pfizer vaccine.
Sheffield said the vaccine is important for teenagers as it will protect the students themselves from the virus.
“It’s definitely something that will be protective of them,” Sheffield said.
In Utah, more than 300 children were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the pandemic, and nearly 300 children nationwide died from complications.
Sheffield said children are vectors of the disease, which means they need to be vaccinated to stop the transmission of the virus and protect people around them from disease.
“We need to protect them so that they do not transmit the disease to those who are more vulnerable to the disease and its complications,” she said.
Sheffield said Utah could not get herd immunity if children were excluded from the vaccine because the state’s population is young. Children represent almost 30% of the population, compared to only 22% nationwide.
“Because we have so many children in our country, we need their numbers to prevent the disease from spreading to those who may not be vaccinated, or whose immune systems are not responding so well to the vaccine,” Sheffield said.
Pfizer trials are underway for younger children.
Sheffield believes the vaccine is available for children aged 12 to 15 in early summer, and late summer to early autumn for children under 12.
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Jed Boal