Children's Health

Health & Safety

How To Help Kids With Needle Fears When They Get The COVID-19 Vaccine

7:54am May 16, 2021

As more kids become eligible for the Pfizer shot, NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with pharmacist Anna Taddio, who specializes in pain mitigation, about how to help them overcome needle phobia.

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After the CDC shifted this week to less restrictive mask guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, some leaders in the public health world felt blindsided. While some people rejoiced, others say they feel the change has come too

Confused By CDC's Latest Mask Guidance? Here's What We've Learned

8:41pm May 14, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted its stance this week on the need to wear masks if you're vaccinated. What's that mean for kids? For travel? For work? Experts weigh in.

A girl and her father wear facemasks while they push their bikes last summer in Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles. There aren't yet coronavirus vaccines approved in the U.S. for kids under 12 — which means they should keep masking, according to the CDC.

What The New Mask Guidance Means For Unvaccinated Kids — And Their Parents

6:54pm May 14, 2021

by Laurel Wamsley

I'm fully vaccinated, but my kids aren't. Can I safely take off my mask? Do my unvaccinated kids have to keep masking in public?

A 16-year-old gets a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Anaheim, Calif., on April 28. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say it's not necessary for adolescents to wait two weeks after a COVID shot to receive routine immunizati

Health & Safety

Adolescents Can Get Routine Immunizations With Their COVID Shots, CDC Advisers Say

3:41pm May 13, 2021

Children's immunizations dropped dramatically during the pandemic, and health officials are eager to get kids caught back up on their routine shots before they return to school.

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Health & Safety

CDC Says 12 To 15 Year Olds Can Start Getting Vaccinated Right Away

1:26pm May 13, 2021

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to pediatrician Jose Romero, chair of the independent advisory committee that recommended to the CDC that children ages 12 to 15 get the Pfizer vaccine.

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A Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine vial and syringe. An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be administered to children ages 12 to 15.

CDC Says Kids As Young As 12 Should Get The Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

8:39pm May 12, 2021

The White House has been urging family doctors to encourage vaccination of adolescents and the CDC director said "providers may begin vaccinating them right away."

CDC Recommends Pfizer Vaccine For Adolescents

7:41pm May 12, 2021

by Pien Huang

The Centers of Disease control and Prevention is recommending the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids 12 and up, clearing the way for it to be given to teens and preteens this week.

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How Much Will Hesitancy Among Parents Affect Vaccine Rollout To Children?

4:41pm May 11, 2021

Children as young as 12 can now get Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, but it may be hard to convince some parents to let them. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly and pediatrician Dr. Sally Goza discuss this hesitancy.

Shakuntala Thilsted, winner of the 2021 World Food Prize, is one of the world's leading experts on the nutritional benefits of small fish.

Why This World Food Prize Winner Wants You To Reconsider Anchovies

1:09pm May 11, 2021

by Malaka Gharib

Shakuntala Thilsted, one of the world's leading researchers of fish as a source of nutritious food, is the first woman of Asian heritage to receive the World Food Prize.

John Calhoun of Flathead County has diabetes and was convinced by an old friend to get vaccinated, through he suspects the coronavirus isn't as dangerous as health officials say it is. He's hoping vaccination will ease divisions over masking.

Health & Safety

Families, Communities Divided Over COVID Vaccination In Rural Montana

5:00am May 11, 2021

by Katheryn Houghton

In sprawling Flathead County, only 25% of adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health experts worry about reservoirs of potential outbreaks as neighbors still debate the virus' danger.