If a medication existed today that would prevent children from ever developing and dying of cancer, we would never be discussing whether we should use it—parents would be lined up. If we had a shot that ensured your child would never suffer from mental illness or commit suicide, families would be all in. If a treatment existed to ensure a child would never die from a congenital anomaly or heart disease, it would be criminal to not incorporate it as the standard of care.

Most American parents have never been in a serious car accident, yet they don’t think twice about insisting their children ride in car seats and use seat belts. Why is this? The rate of fatal car crashes as a factor of how often we drive is thankfully low—and similar to fatal rates from COVID. Yet, if a car crash were to occur, the seatbelt may be the only true protection from harm. Simply put, kids buckle up to ensure if on the rare chance a serious car accident occurs, it will have a low likelihood of leading to death.

The COVID vaccination program in children keeps this same premise. Just like in riding in a car, the chance of a fatal or near-fatal event is very low, yet with COVID we use vaccination as our protective tool to prevent severe outcomes. Parents choosing to double down on masking and social distancing maneuvers for the foreseeable future may reduce exposure for a time, but these tools are not sustainable and have no effect on altering the course of the disease in a child.