Death is not the only outcome that parents fear, of course. Yet “long Covid” and hospitalization have also been very rare in children. It’s just that society has been so focused on Covid that we have paid intense attention to the risks associated with it — even when they are smaller than other risks that we unthinkingly accept. To take one example, we don’t use the phrase “long flu,” but it’s a real problem, including for children: One academic study has found that up to 10 percent of people who contract influenza later develop cardiac inflammation. Serious forms of Covid are so rare in children that a few countries with better recent Covid track records than the U.S. — like Britain, Germany and Israel — may not even officially urge vaccinations for most children. The decision will be up to individual parents.