Everyone's favorite red Muppet, Elmo, has just received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Today. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, released a public service announcement (PSA) on Tuesday, June 28, where Elmo's Muppet dad Louie shared his questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for kids under five years of age.
Louie asked, "Was it safe? Was it the right decision?" in the PSA. He added that he talked to their pediatrician so he could make the right choice for Elmo, who is three and a half years old. Louie said he learned that getting Elmo vaccinated is the best way to keep him, their friends, neighbors, and everyone else healthy and enjoying the things they love.
Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president of U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop, said that COVID-19 vaccines are now available for children under 5, and parents may have some questions regarding the jabs, thus their decision to release a PSA with Elmo and Louie.
Pfizer and Moderna given emergency use authorization
Betancourt told CNN that they hope Louie and Elmo will inspire parents and caregivers across the United States to speak with their healthcare providers and seek out information to learn about how the COVID-19 vaccines can keep young children and their families healthy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to include children as young as six months earlier in June.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), signed off on the COVID-19 vaccinations for kids under the age of 5 on June 17, after the federal agency's vaccine advisers voted unanimously that same day to recommend their use.
Parents reluctant to vaccinate their children right away
Although these COVID vaccines for children are now available, some parents are still reluctant to vaccinate their kids immediately. According to an April Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor survey, only 18 percent of parents of kids under 5 said they would vaccinate their child for COVID-19 as soon as a jab was available and 38 percent of parents surveyed said they would wait and see before vaccinating their young kids.
According to a press release from the Ad Council and Sesame Workshop, nearly 5.7 million child cases of COVID-19 have been reported nationally in 2022 alone, making vaccination an important step to protecting both children and their families against the highly contagious virus and its variants.
According to the CDC, nearly 30 percent of children ages 5 to 11 and nearly 60 percent of children ages 12 to 17 were fully vaccinated for COVID-19 as of June 22.
CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen's two kids, who are four and two years old, received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, June 27.
While Wen was eager to get her kids vaccinated, she knows many parents are on the fence regarding the COVID vaccine, and they need to respect that these people have questions.
