Protect Their Future Public Comment Remarks at VRBPAC Meeting
June 15, 2023–Below are remarks of Protect Their Future co-founder and pediatrician Dr. Katherine Matthias during the public comments portion of the June 15, 2023 Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting.
Good afternoon. I have no financial interests to disclose. My name is Dr. Katherine Matthias: I am a mother of 2 beautiful young daughters, a Pediatrician, and a co-founder of “Protect Their Future”- a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for equitable health care and COVID-19 vaccine access for children.
First of all, I would like to express my support of an updated COVID-19 vaccine from all three manufacturers. The more options given to the general public, the better uptake will be. That said, it is imperative that parents are given the choice to once again protect their children. I am asking this committee to approve booster doses for children of all ages at the same time as adults. I am hoping that access to this booster will be available before school starts, which in some states is early August.
Exactly one year ago today, this committee was reviewing data regarding the COVID-19 vaccine trials for children under 5 and voting on EUA approval of the vaccines in this age group. That day was momentous for parents. Many of us had been pregnant at the start of lockdown, raised newborns in isolation, cared for rambunctious toddlers with little help from friends and family, all while trying to juggle our own mental health and careers as the pandemic wore on. The delays in the vaccine trials and approval process had been soul crushing, but after nearly two and a half years of constant worry and pandemic fatigue, on this day last year we were finally able to provide our children immunologic protection against COVID-19.
We have come a long way since then. As of May 2023, 2.2 million children under 5 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, this number is dismal compared to other age groups and with waning immunity, COVID-19 is still a threat. The CDC website shows that as of June 7th there have been a total 765 deaths due to COVID-19 just in the 0-4 age group. This means that since this time last year, COVID-19 has taken the lives of close to 300 babies and toddlers. These babies account for the majority of new pediatric covid deaths reported by the CDC since last June. As you all know, that number is also much higher than annual flu deaths for all children under 18. It is clear young children, especially those under 1 year of age are at significant risk of harm.
Furthermore, you must consider complications that can arise from a COVID-19 infection itself such as type 1 diabetes, long covid, and MIS-C (of which there have been nearly 9,500 cases since 2020), all of which can have devastating and lifelong consequences for children. A publication released by the AAP just last week demonstrated the outstanding safety profile of these vaccines. The study reviewed safety data collected from nearly 250,000 COVID-19 vaccine recipients under the age of 5, and found zero cases of myocarditis or pericarditis. Last week the CDC also released a safety monitoring update for children 0-4 receiving a third dose of the vaccine using the VAERS and V-Safe data sets and once again found no new safety concerns.
The last issue I want to address is the immense barriers parents have been facing in order to access COVID-19 vaccines for their children. Many offices are not stocking the vaccines and children under 3 cannot receive their vaccination at the pharmacy. Some parents are driving hours round trip to find a provider able to vaccinate their young children. It is no wonder why vaccine uptake is so appalling in this age group despite the fact that everyday babies are aging into eligibility and, as we saw earlier, are at higher risk than any other Pediatric age group. The access issue needs to be addressed immediately with state health departments and Pediatricians. Single dose vials would be a massive step in the right direction. This would help prevent administration errors which now account for the vast majority of events reported to the VAERS system for kids.
Children are our future and we need to make their health and safety our top priority. Thank you very much for allowing me the privilege of speaking at today’s meeting.
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Protect Their Future is a grassroots group of physicians, parents, and activists advocating on behalf of young children and patients to ensure health leaders put kids first in public health policies. Follow us on Twitter at @PTF_org