Babies and children have been getting vaccinated in TT for decades, starting at two months old.One paediatrician explained that at that time, the baby gets three injections – one against polio, one against pneumococcal disease and a pentavalent, which covers diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and meningitis. The same is repeated at four and six months.

Around one year old they get one vaccine for measles, mumps and German measles, as well as those for rubella and yellow fever. Between 18 months and two years children are given an oral polio vaccine, and boosters for pneumococcal disease and the pentavalent.

Around age four and a half to five, they are expected to get the oral polio, a shot for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, and a booster measles shot.Between the ages of nine and 12 they usually get boosters for tetanus, diphtheria and yellow fever.The vaccines children receive from birth to age five were mandatory to attend school.

Optional are the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at around age 11 or 12, meningococcal meningitis, chicken pox, Hepatitis A, influenza and the rotavirus vaccine. He told Newsday that, with the topic of children 12-18 getting the Pfizer covid19 on people’s minds, he was surprised he was not getting many calls about concerns.

However, the few who contacted him were concerned about their children getting myocarditis, inflammation of the heart. He advised them to be cautious, as the vaccine was relatively new and that, if they wished, they could delay a month or two to see what other side effects develop. He added that there was a very low chance of children getting seriously ill if they get infected, so there should be “a sense of balance.” He gave parents that advice even as he admitted that Pfizer was a well-known and trusted pharmaceutical company, and that even the national immunisation schedule has been updated over the years as technology improved.

“This is a baby vaccine in the vaccination world. All the vaccines I mentioned go through a process for years and years before they are released to a general population. It’s only now we are starting to see the effects of the vaccine. And in fact I am sceptical about the statistics and risk numbers.”However, one Port of Spain paediatrician believed the concern about the “newness” of the vaccine often came from older generations of doctors who were accustomed to medications taking decades to be developed and released.

She said science continued to evolve and doctors should keep up with the technology. For example, next generation antibiotics were are more efficient, allowing people to take them for three days while it remained in the body for ten.

She explained that mRNA technology had been around for over a decade, but only got the finances to complete it when covid19 appeared. So, while the vaccine was only about 18 months old, the technology had been around for a while. She has had to explain such to parents who “inundated” her office with calls about the Pfizer covid19 vaccine.

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