FDA: Pfizer Vaccine OK for Kids 5 to 11: Santa Cruz County Reports Four COVID Deaths As New Cases Slow, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS FDA: Pfizer Vaccine OK for Kids 5 to 11

Santa Cruz County Reports Four COVID Deaths As New Cases Slow

By Jondi Gumz

On Oct. 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11, giving parents who want their younger children vaccinated a sense of relief even as new cases in Santa Cruz County are down 32 percent.

The federal Centers for Disease Control’s advisers meet Nov. 2 to discuss whether to recommend the vaccine for younger kids.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, makes the final decision.

Locally the Delta variant claimed four more lives in Santa Cruz County — all with underlying conditions — bringing the number of deaths to 220 — and hospitals saw an uptick, from four to seven cases.

The county reports 20,106 cases since the pandemic began, with 606 requiring hospitalization.

Pfizer and BioNTech requested approval Oct. 7 for kids 5 to 11. By Oct. 27, an advisory panel recommended in favor, though several panelists said the data for kids 5 to 11 does not support a mandate.

About 3,000 children took part in clinical trials, which found no cases of myocarditis, heart muscle inflammation. The rare condition often resolves itself but if severe can cause sudden death.

CDC data showed 12.6 cases per one million second doses, more common among men and boys. Researchers estimated that out of a million second doses given to boys ages 12 to 17, vaccines might cause up to 70 myocarditis cases, but would prevent 5,700 COVID cases, 215 hospitalizations and two deaths, The New York Times reported in July.

The number in a clinical trial usually ranges from several hundred to 3,000.

Because this heart condition is rare, increasing the number of participants might not allow regulators to better detect prevalence of the heart problem, Dr. Steven Black, co-director of the Global Vaccine Data Network, a consortium researching vaccine safety, told The New York Times.

Physicians will know to look for it once the vaccine is in use, he added.To reduce the risk of side effects, younger children would get a third of the adult dose.

School Impact

Enrollment in K-12 public schools dropped 2.6 percent in California from pre-pandemic to 2020-21 and this year’s decline is projected to be 8.7 percent .

Factors include switching to online instruction in 2020, postponing sports, and restricting popular activities such as theater and singing groups for safety reasons.

At Soquel Union Elementary School District, student numbers dropped from 1,908 in 2019-20 to 1,745 in 2020-21.

Gov. Newsom announced plans to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of vaccinations required to attend in-person school once the vaccine gets full approval from federal regulators for middle and high school grades.

The Idaho Statesman and the Deseret News in Utah reported parents are leaving California because of SB 277, the 2015 law banning all but medical exemptions for vaccines. One mom who spoke to the Statesman was quoted by name, but the mom who shared her story with the Deseret News asked her name be withheld to protect the medical privacy of her children. Some parents worried about longterm side effects do not want to vaccinate their children. In other cases, if the children have had COVID, the parents contend they have natural immunity.

Homeschooling in California is up, based on affidavits filed by homeschooling parents.

The California Globe reported those numbers have nearly tripled -- from 14,548 in 2018-2019 to 22,433 in 2019-2020 and a record 34,715 in 2020-2021.

Another 3,215 affidavits for private schools with 6 or more students were filed in 2020-2021.

On Oct. 15, Dr. Faris Sabbah, Santa Cruz County superintendent of schools, told families that more than 70% of the kids age 12-17 are fully vaccinated. He anticipates vaccine clinics at schools for kids age 5 to 11 in November, once the FDA authorizes emergency use for younger children.

With Inspire Diagnostics, his office has conducted more than 38,000 PCR surveillance tests for COVID in two months at no charge to those tested.

He launched a website, santacruzcoe. org/coviddashboards, to report active Peggy Bascou (left) and Hollie Wendt designed a new gift shop at Staff of Life.

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz

cases and test results. This dashboard links to individual school districts.

Soquel Union Elementary School District reported one active student case at Soquel Elementary and one active staff case at Main Street Elementary.

State guidelines require students and school staff working with them to be masked indoors although Santa Cruz County lifted its indoor mask mandate Sept. 29.

Testing sites are open at Cabrillo College in Aptos, parking lot K, from 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and at the PVUSD District Office parking lot, open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays.

Students and their families, and staff and their families can use this free service. Those needing a test simply fill out the registration one time at http://sccoe. link/inspiresc and go to either site. No appointment is needed.

Fatalities

The state reports COVID has claimed more than 71,500 lives.

All four Santa Cruz County residents who died had underlying conditions.

Two were white women in their 90s; one fully vaccinated and one not. Two were Latinx, a man in his 60s and a man in his 50s; neither was vaccinated.

As of Oct. 27, there were 289 active cases, down from 324, and 19,597 recovered; statistics are updated on Mondays and Thursdays.

Hospitalizations in the county, which had been as high as 21, rose from 4 to 7, including one person in the ICU.

On Oct. 27, dozens of cars lined up at the former drive-in on Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, where Sutter Health offered the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, granted emergency use authorization by the FDA on Sept. 22.

The authorization covers people 65 and up, those age 18 to 64 at high risk of severe Covid-19 or whose occupation/ institutional exposure puts them at high risk of Covid complications.

The CDC tracker reports 79 percent of those eligible are fully vaccinated in Santa Cruz County, and a test positivity rate of .9 percent, lower than the statewide rate of 2.8 percent.

For local vaccine information, see www.santacruzhealth.org

Business Rebound

Signs of business confidence: The Capitola-Soquel Chamber is hosted a business mixer at Strahle Legacy Planning, and Capitola Village businesses will host Sip and Stroll Nov. 13.

Think Local First hosted a mixer Oct. 21 outside KSCO radio.

Staff of Life Natural Foods created a new gift shop inside the Santa Cruz market geared for holiday shopping.

Sonya Yampolsky, owner of Jade Allen, a luxury clothing boutique in Capitola, opened her second shop at Aptos Center. Linda Meltzer, owner of Magnolia Fine Gifts & Gallery in Aptos has expanded into the former Mulberry Gallery space.