NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The seven-year-old carpenter Adoo earned the nickname “Tiny but Mighty” in no time.
He underwent his first surgery at the age of one week and spent four months in the neonatal intensive care unit. He underwent more than a dozen procedures to keep excess fluid draining from his brain safely, greeting nurses routinely with hugs and handshakes.
“He handles everything with a grace that I don’t know if I would be able to handle,” said Carpenter’s mother, Leah Williamson, of Memphis.
Carpenter’s medical condition makes him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, placing him in a population that states are struggling to define how to prioritize vaccine supplies that do not meet demand. Last month, Tennessee joined a handful of states to move the families of clinically fragile children like Carpenter to the top of the list of priority vaccines. State officials beat them above critical infrastructure workers, grocery store employees and prisoners, disembarking in the phase that follows teachers and daycare workers.
Williamson was excited, but has yet to get an answer on when to take his turn.
While the death toll from the disease in the United States rises to nearly half a million people, the threat to those with chronic health conditions remains high, especially for those under the age of 16 who have not yet been approved for vaccines. Williamson hopes this will give urgency to the state of Tennessee’s willingness to give her a vaccine.
She just knows that day cannot come soon.
Before the pandemic, the flu season terrified her. If Carpenter, who has hydrocephalus and chronic lung disease, catches COVID-19, the damage could be serious.
The next group of priority vaccines in Tennessee includes people living or caring for children under the age of 16 who have any type of medical frailty, from those receiving chemotherapy to children using a wheelchair due to high-risk conditions.
They may have to wait more than a month and a half to be eligible, according to the recent conservative schedule by state health commissioner Lisa Piercey. But the national vaccine landscape is constantly changing, with President Joe Biden saying that there will be enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
Barbara Saunders, a doctor who heads the child development division at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said that clinically fragile children already have trouble staying healthy without the threat of a pandemic. She said anything to keep them as healthy as possible, including vaccinating the people around them, is crucial.
“We know that children with medical complexity and who are clinically fragile are at a much greater risk of contracting COVID-19 than their normally developing peers,” said Saunders. “They are also at a greater risk of serious illness and require hospitalization compared to other children.”
Other states that extend eligibility to caregivers of clinically fragile children include California, Oregon, Illinois, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Few make it as explicit as Tennessee, which prioritizes anyone in the house; however, other states are treating these caregivers more quickly, with some already receiving vaccines.
Some states have classified these family members as home health providers or caregivers, making them eligible. Many states do not address them.
Late last month, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called vaccine prioritization “distressing” when asked why the parents of immunocompromised children had not yet joined the queue.
“It’s not ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” the Republican said at a news conference. “Yeah, ‘Yes, if we do you, someone else is going to be pushed back or another group is going to be pushed back.'”
Although research on whether the vaccine can prevent someone from spreading the virus is not yet complete, the first indications are positive. AstraZeneca, whose vaccine COVID-19 is not yet available in the United States, has found evidence that its vaccines can reduce transmission of the virus. A recent study in Israel reported similar findings from the Pfizer vaccine.
From Williamson’s point of view, the vaccine would add to what she is already doing. She is limiting outbound travel and working from home for a group that supports families of children with special health needs, chronic illnesses or disabilities. You must remove your shoes before entering the house, without exceptions. She leaves the packages in the yard for a day or two and cleans up the purchases.
“It is like a decontamination (sifting) when I get home, spraying myself, hand sanitizer – ‘Nobody touches the mother!’ – because you just don’t know, ”said Williamson. “We still have to do things, like follow up and go to medical appointments.”
At one point, she was told, after visiting the doctor’s office, that a test was positive. She wore masks near the children for 10 days, trying to stay in a room and limit their interactions.
Sending any of his four children – two teenagers, one of whom has profound hearing loss and speaks sign language, and Carpenter’s twin sister – back to face-to-face school is out of the question because of what they can bring back. .
Williamson said he is aware of the role the race played in the pandemic, with fewer people of color being vaccinated. But she says that the care of the child is very important to falter.
“We are a black family, so the question they ask me is, ‘Are you really going to get the vaccine?’ ‘Yes, I’m really going to get the vaccine,’ ”said Williamson. “It’s just that thing about relying on medicine.”