COVID-19 and Our Communities – A Pediatric Townhall

All That You wanted to Know About COVID Vaccines for your Kids – But were Afraid to Ask! 

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ow do we protect our youngest and most vulnerable children against COVID-19? An eye-opening video for parents of young children as health experts led by NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan and Senior Ambulatory Care Dr. Ted Long and other experts answer all the questions you may have had about COVID-19, vaccines and children 6 months and older.

Cases have been increasing in New York City, driven by two new and more transmissible variants.  “We’ve we’ve been in relative isolation for more than two years and it’s summertime in New York and people want to get together, you want to reconnect with their friends and loved ones and family. And so doing so safely has become even more paramount,” noted Dr. Vasan.

He pointed out that despite rising cases, “we’re seeing for the first time really in the pandemic over the last couple of months, we’re seeing no more strain on our hospital system, we’re not really seeing an increase a meaningful increase in severity of hospitalizations, and we’re seeing deaths remain relatively low.” He said he prefaces this data with some important facts – “we have to reinforce that there are real inequities. In that data, the same people who have been have borne the brunt of COVID from the beginning, that is community of color, communities of color, and people with underlying health risks continue to bear the brunt of these cases.”

COVID is still very much around so the experts encourage vaccination and booster shots and in this video Q and A explain all the tools available for New Yorkers to keep themselves and their children safe and healthy.

Questions and Answers from the Experts