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'It's a matter of keeping everybody healthy' | Indianapolis doctors push to get more kids vaccinated

Coronavirus vaccines are approved for kids 5 and up. So far, though, not many Indiana youth have gotten the shot.

INDIANAPOLIS — Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines works just as well in young children as it does in adults, new data has found.  

The company made the announcement Wednesday, releasing results that found its two-dose mRNA vaccine provides "a robust neutralizing antibody response" in kids from six- months up to 5 years old.

But even as more vaccine options and more promising data comes out for COVID-19 vaccines, Indiana parents still aren’t getting their kids vaccinated in big numbers.  

"It's a matter of keeping everybody healthy, period,” said John Christenson, associate medical director for infection prevention at Riley Children’s Health.

Christenson said we're likely to see an uptick in new COVID cases in the coming weeks or months as the new BA.2 variant continues to spread.  

The best way to protect yourself and your family, he said, is getting fully vaccinated and boosted, if you're eligible.  

RELATED: Moderna update could mean COVID vaccines for youngest children by summer

Currently, COVID-19 vaccines are approved for children ages 5 and up. So far, though, not many Hoosier kids have their shots.

"When you look at the numbers of children being vaccinated in the United States and especially in Indiana, it's terribly low," Christenson said.

Here in Indiana, only 20 percent of children 5 and up have the COVID vaccine, according to the state department of health. Nationally, the numbers are a little higher, with 1 in 3 kids fully immunized.

Christenson said those numbers are concerning because while coronavirus cases are low now, this pandemic isn't over and kids can still get seriously sick. But often, he said, parents don’t want to hear anything about it.

RELATED: Methodist Hospital COVID unit reflects on pandemic after two years

"I think it's gotten a little easier to talk to people about flu, for example, because there's a lot of flu activity in the community. But once you bring up coronavirus, they have no interest, because everybody tells them that coronavirus is more or less gone, everybody is taking their mask off, right?" said Christenson.  

Christenson takes discussions about COVID-19 vaccines in kids on a case-by-case basis to make sure he’s really reaching parents with the right information, often needing to correct misinformation people believe from the internet or from friends.  

“We have to sit down and explain the necessity for the vaccine and the importance of vaccination. Families that have had family members that have had severe coronavirus are a little easier to sell the vaccination, because they’ve experienced what coronavirus can do, but we even have circumstances where that’s not enough,” he said.

Christenson wants parents to know the vaccines are safe and effective for adults and for kids. If you have any questions, he said, don’t turn to social media. Call your doctor instead.

"We want to keep people out of the hospital, we want to keep them healthy and the best way you do that is through vaccination, especially a vaccine that has been shown to be quite effective," Christenson said.  

Moderna has said they intend to seek FDA authorization for COVID-19 vaccines for kids as young as six months in the coming weeks. 

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