NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Seven-year-old carpenter Adoo has earned the nickname “Tiny but Mighty” in a short time.
He had his first surgery when he was one week old and spent four months in neonatal intensive care. He has gone through more than a dozen procedures to allow excess fluid to drain safely from his brain, and routinely greets nurses with hugs and handshakes.
“He handles it all with a grace I don’t know if I could ever do it,” said Carpenters’ mother, Leah Williamson, from Memphis.
The carpenter’s medical condition makes him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, making him part of a population where states struggle to prioritize as there is insufficient demand for vaccines. Tennessee joined a handful of states last month to put the families of medically vulnerable children like Carpenter on the vaccine priority list. State officials bump them above critical infrastructure workers, grocery store workers, and inmates, moving into the phase that follows teachers and childcare workers.
Williamson was encouraged, but has still not received an answer as to when it will be her turn.
As the death toll from the disease in the US rises to nearly half a million people, the threat to those with chronic health conditions remains high, especially those under the age of 16 who are not yet approved for the admissions. Williamson hopes this lends urgency to Tennessee’s willingness to give her a vaccine.
She just knows that day can’t come soon enough.
Flu season terrified her before the pandemic. If Carpenter, who has hydrocephalus and chronic lung disease, got COVID-19, the damage could be serious.
The emerging vaccine priority group in Tennessee includes people living with or caring for children under the age of 16 who have a number of medical weaknesses, ranging from those receiving chemotherapy to children using wheelchairs due to high-risk conditions.
They may have to wait more than a month and a half to qualify, according to the recent conservative timeline of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey. But the national vaccine landscape is constantly changing, with President Joe Biden saying there will be enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
Barbara Saunders, a physician who heads the Department of Child Development at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said medically vulnerable children are having a hard time staying healthy without the threat of a pandemic. She said that everything to keep them as healthy as possible, including vaccinating those around them, is crucial.
“We know that children with medical complexity and who are medically vulnerable are at a much higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than their normally developing peers,” Saunders said. “They are also at higher risk of serious illness and hospitalization compared to other children.”
Other states that qualify for health care providers for medically vulnerable children include California, Oregon, Illinois, South Carolina and New HampshireFew make it as explicit as Tennessee, which gives priority to everyone in the household; however, other states are more likely to address those healthcare providers, and some are already getting photos.
Some states have categorized those family members as either home health care providers or caregivers, making them eligible. Many states fail to address them.
Late last month, Ohio government Mike DeWine called vaccine prioritization “ heartbreaking ” when asked why parents of immunocompromised children had not yet gotten in line there.
“It’s not ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ the Republican said at a news conference. “It’s, ‘Yeah, if we do you, someone else will be pushed back or another group will be pushed back.'”
While research into whether the vaccine can prevent someone from spreading the virus is still incomplete, the early indications are positive. AstraZeneca, whose COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available in the US, has found evidence that its injections can reduce virus transmission. A recent study in Israel brought up similar early findings about Pfizer’s vaccine.
From Williamson’s perspective, the vaccine would add to what she’s already doing. She limits outside travel and works from home for a group that supports families of children with special care needs, chronic illnesses or disabilities. It’s off before you enter the house, no exceptions. She leaves parcels in the backyard for a day or two and wipes the groceries.
“It’s like a decon (tamination) when I get home, splashing myself, hand sanitizer – ‘Nobody is touching Mommy!’ – because you just don’t know, ”Williamson said. “We still have things to do, like go to follow-ups and go to doctor’s appointments.”
At one point, after a visit to the doctor’s office, she was told that someone there tested positive. She wore masks around the children for 10 days, trying to stay in one room and limit their interactions.
There is no way any of her four children – two teenagers, one of whom has severe hearing loss and speaks in sign language, and Carpenter’s twin sister – go back to personal school because of what they could bring back.
Williamson said she is aware of the role the race has played in the pandemic, with fewer people of color being vaccinated. But she says caring for her son is too important to be in doubt.
“We are a black family and so I get the question, ‘Are you really going to get the vaccine?’ “Yes, I’m really going to get the vaccine,” said Williamson. “It’s just that you trust drugs.”