NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Seven-year-old carpenter Adoo has earned the nickname “Small but Powerful” in a short time.
She underwent her first surgery a week and spent four months in the neonatal intensive care unit. She has performed more than a dozen procedures to keep excess drained fluid from the brain safely, routinely greeting nurses with hugs and handshakes.
“He handles it all with a grace I don’t know he would ever be able to do,” Carpenter’s mother, Leah Williamson, said from Memphis.
Carpenter’s medical condition makes him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, placing him in a population that states are struggling with how to prioritize as vaccine supplies are below demand. Last month, Tennessee joined a handful of states to move the families of medically vulnerable children like Carpenter to the vaccine priority list. State officials shocked them above critical infrastructure workers, grocery store employees and interns, landing in the phase that follows teachers and daycare staff.
Williamson cheered, but has yet to get answers as to when it will be his turn.
As the number of deaths in the United States from the disease rises to nearly half a million people, the threat to people with chronic illnesses remains high, especially for those under the age of 16 who are not yet approved for shooting. . Williamson hopes this will give urgency to the willingness of the state of Tennessee to give him a vaccine.
She just knows that day can’t come soon enough.
Before the pandemic, the flu season landed her. If Carpenter, who has hydrocephalus and chronic lung disease, took COVID-19, the damage could be severe.
The next priority group of vaccines in Tennessee includes people who live or care for children under the age of 16 and who have any number of medical weaknesses, ranging from those receiving chemotherapy to children who use wheelchairs due to medical conditions. high risk.
They may have to wait more than a month and a half to be eligible, according to the recent conservative chronology of state health commissioner Lisa Piercey. But the national vaccine landscape is constantly changing, and President Joe Biden said there will be enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
Barbara Saunders, a doctor who heads the child development division at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said medically frail children have enough time to stay healthy without the threat of a pandemic. He said anything to keep them as healthy as possible, including vaccinating the people around them, is crucial.
“We know that children with medical complexity and who are medically fragile have a much higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than their peers who normally develop,” Saunders said. “They also have a higher risk of serious illness and requiring hospitalization compared to other children.”
Other states that extend eligibility for medically fragile child caregivers include California, Oregon, Illinois, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Few make it as explicit as Tennessee, which prioritizes anyone in the household; however, other states are targeting these caregivers more quickly, as some are already receiving shots.
Some states have classified these family members as home health care providers or caregivers, making them eligible. Many states do not deal with it.
Late last month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine described prioritizing the vaccine as “devastating” when asked why the parents of immunocompromised children had not yet been aligned.
“It’s not‘ yes ’or‘ no ’,” the Republican said at a news conference. “It’s, ‘Yeah, if we do that, someone will push again or another group will push again.'”
Although research on whether the vaccine can prevent someone from spreading the virus is not yet exhaustive, the first indications are positive. AstraZeneca, whose COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available in the United States, has found evidence that its features can reduce the transmission of the virus. A recent study in Israel transmitted first similar findings about the Pfizer vaccine.
From Williamson’s perspective, the vaccine would add to what he is already doing. Limit travel away from home and work from home for a group that supports families of children with special health care needs, chronic illnesses, or disabilities. Shoes are left before entering the house, without exception. Leave packages in the backyard for a day or two and clean the groceries.
“It’s like a mess when I get home, I get sprayed, hand sanitizer,‘ No one touches mom! “–because you just don’t know,” Williamson said. “We still have things to do, like going to follow-ups and going to doctor’s appointments.”
At one point, after a visit to the doctor’s office, he was told that someone tested positive there. He wore masks around the children for 10 days, trying to stay in one room and limit their interactions.
Sending any of her four children (two teenagers, one of whom has profound hearing loss and speaks sign language and Carpenter’s twin sister) to face-to-face school is out of the question as to why they might return.
Williamson said he is aware of the role the race has played in the pandemic, and that fewer people of color are being vaccinated. But she says caring for her child is too important to hesitate.
“We’re a black family, so I ask myself,‘ Are you really going to get the vaccine? “Yes, I’ll really get the vaccine,” Williamson said. “It’s just about relying on medicine.”