Playing It Safe This Summer ▶▶CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) research has shown that schools have not been a major source of transmission, but the same doesn’t apply to extracurricular activities. Unmasked activities among children should be limited to outdoor settings. Children should be masked when taking part in indoor group activities. ▶▶Additionally, the CDC has directed everyone attending summer camp this year to wear a mask at almost all times. This applies to counselors and campers, whether they are vaccinated or not. ▶▶For many sports, such as tennis or volleyball, there is a low risk of transmission when playing outdoors unmasked. However, that risk of transmission goes up for contact sports such as rugby and basketball. ▶▶Attending a concert or baseball game in an undomed stadium is considered fairly safe for vaccinated people. However, stadiums with domes or roofs can trap air, which can increase the risk of viral spread. ▶▶Exercise caution around crowds of strangers who are not wearing masks, such as on a crowded beach, for example. Ask your children to wear a mask when they are with other unvaccinated people and keep their distance while eating. ▶▶Keep children’s outdoor parties small (fewer than 10 children) and hold them in a park or big yard, if possible. If there is a need to go inside, keep the windows open for air circulation. ▶▶For travel, check local vaccination rates and surges in infection rates for your proposed destination. Studies show that your risk of getting COVID-19 is lower in places where the number of vaccinated people has reached about 60-70 per cent. ▶▶Air travel is fairly safe, assuming that everyone is masked. But, since the risk of transmission goes up the longer the flight, consider double masking and limiting the number of flights. ▶▶If grandparents have been vaccinated fully for two weeks, then it’s considered safe to hug their grandchildren again. the spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus that is responsible for the infection. When vaccinated, the body produces antibodies to the spike protein, so that if a person gets infected, the immune cells recognize the spike protein as something foreign and attacks it. Vaccines for children trigger the same immune response as in adults. While the subject is a controversial one with vaccine skeptics, vaccinating children will be critical to achieving a population-wide herd immunity, the point at which the spread of an infectious disease slows down, and eventually halts as it runs out of hosts to infect. There are four authorized vaccines for COVID-19 in Canada, all proving to be nearly as effective in the real world as they were in clinical trials. InMay, Canada approved the use of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents 12-15 years old. As of the date of this writing, this is the only vaccine authorized in Canada for anyone under age 18. Additionally, Moderna says that its vaccine is effective in adolescents and it plans to apply for F.D.A. authorization. In the meantime, there are ongoing trials to determine vaccine safety and efficacy in younger children. Which companies are testing a vaccine for younger children? Moderna’s newest trial – KidCOVE − will test two- and three-dose levels in children aged six months to younger than 12 years. Moderna plans to enrol about 6,750 children in the U.S. and Canada for this trial, with some children getting the vaccine and others a placebo. Similarly, in March of this year, Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans to start a study to further evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children aged six months to 11 years. Figuring out the right doses for younger children is important. For vaccines, children usually receive the same doses as adults. However, because children sometimes have a more robust immune response to vaccines, they may need a lower dose. Information on side-effects will be collected as the trials continue. Findings from these studies will also help experts decide whether children will need boosters of COVID-19 vaccines in the future. No kidding around when it comes to safety As we enter the second summer of the pandemic, all of us are longing to return to some semblance of normalcy − especially for our children. While they may not get seriously ill with COVID-19, lockdowns are taking their toll on children’s mental health. As with adults, physical activity is critical for kids, whether it’s an organized sport, in-line skating or walking outdoors with friends and family. Given that children younger than 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, what should families with young children do when people start socializing again? There is no single answer. For many, it will depend on the number of COVID19 cases in their community, and the latest data regarding local infection rates, COVID-19 hospitalization statistics or vaccination rates. Others will have to weigh the risks of prolonged social isolation against going to public places, where they’re not certain whether or not unmasked people are vaccinated. For now, it may be challenging to let kids be kids − but it is possible with the right precautions. COVID-19 CSANews | SUMMER 2021 | 39
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