Healthy Habits: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dr. Hijano Response to FDA Approval of Pfizer Covid Vaccine

 

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granting full approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine, Diego R. Hijano, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, is encouraging all parents and eligible children to get the life-saving COVID vaccine. The FDA approval covers individuals 16 years of age and older. However, the vaccine is also available under emergency use authorization for children between the ages of 12 and 15. “As the Delta variant continues to surge, America’s children are in a very dangerous situation, with record numbers being hospitalized around the country. With the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine today, it should give hesitant parents more confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine; there is no reason not to get yourself and your child vaccinated against the COVID virus. It not only provides protection from severe illness but will also save your and your child’s life.” Dr. Diego Hijano specializes in infectious diseases in children and conducts research into the spread of respiratory viruses among pediatric populations. “The delta variant is responsible for the surge in infections we did not see with the original COVID strain,” Dr. Hijano said. “As the rate of pediatric cases continues to surge to levels we have not yet seen during this pandemic, we must act now and do everything possible to stave off this new delta variant or watch the situation get exponentially worse. Every eligible American over the age of 12 should get the COVID vaccine as soon as possible. And if a child is not yet eligible, those in close contact should be taking additional precautions such as masking up to protect them.”

# # # St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude is ranked the No. 1 pediatric cancer hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit stjude.org