MSNBC contributor Katty Kay started off her interview with Dr. Zeke Emanuel by revealing her children refused to get more COVID-19 boosters as cases are on the rise in China.
And you would think that the country would respond by saying, ‘OK, we will make sure we are all up to date on all of our vaccines.’ But I had a strange conversation with my 22-year-old, my 16-year-old last night and I said, ‘OK, I booked you in for Covid updates, you both back for the holidays. You’re going to get your boosters.’ And both of them said, ‘No, we don’t want to. We’ve had enough vaccines and we don’t think we need them," Kay explained.
"How can you — I was sort of shocked and appalled — but is this the kind of response you’re seeing from young people at the moment that they just — they think this is over and they don’t need any more vaccines?” she asked.
"Yes. But I do — would say that, you know, we keep thinking vaccines aren’t going to prevent getting Covid. They don’t prevent getting COVID," Emanuel admitted. "There are only two things that really can prevent transmission of Covid, the Covid virus. One is a good mask, an N95 mask and wearing it, especially in crowded situations, on airplanes and transportation, and the other is better indoor ventilation. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten to a situation where neither of them seem to be a very high priority to reduce the transmission. And I think that’s where we’re at."
As Emanuel stated, vaccines for COVID-19 do not prevent someone from contracting or spreading the virus. Children are especially at low risk for getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19 while chances of experiencing side effects from the vaccines are higher.
