LEXINGTON, Ky. — Out of nearly 50,000 COVID-19 cases in Lexington, 11% of those cases were children under the age of fourteen. 

According to the Kentucky COVID-19 weekly report, in the state of Kentucky over 46,000 children under the age of 10 have tested positive  COVID-19. 

Dr. Sean McTigue, the medical director for pediatric infection prevention and control with the Kentucky Children's Hospital believes immunizations are the number one way to fight off COVID-19 when it comes to children.

“We’re still in the midst of a big surge of pediatric COVID cases that really started earlier this summer. So since July 30 we have had more than six times as many admissions to Kentucky children's hospital for either severe or critical COVID-19 infections in children than we had for the entirety of the pandemic up until that point,” Dr. McTigue said.

Dr. McTigue believes that everyone who can get the vaccine should do so, but understands there may be hesitations when it comes to children and side effects. Dr. McTigue says studies have shown that side effects from the vaccine in children are similar to some adults. 

“A dose was found and tested in large numbers of kids, it was shown to be very, very safe, and every bit as effective as those, those adult doses that were for the adults and teenagers. So I would say that when this is authorized, I think that the right thing to do for children would be to get them immunized so that they can have that same protection that we've afforded to teenagers and adults,” Dr. McTigue said.

Dr. McTigue says there is another way doctors are working to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within children. Monoclonial antibody infusions which are lab produced antibodies that mimic the body’s natural antibody response to the virus. 

“We've been very successful from the standpoint that things have been running extremely smoothly. The patients that we've brought through have all come in and out with no problems, their infusions have gone very well, where I think we need to improve is we really need to get the word out about how important this therapy is. and that children really do need to be referred,” Dr. McTigue said.

Children must be over the ages of 12, weighing at least 90 pounds, and have a high risk condition. 

“And while some of these are fairly obvious things like immunodeficiencies of cancer, severe, severe lung disease, others are much more common conditions that people might not realize would put them at a very high risk of poor outcomes from COVID, chief among them being obesity,” Dr. McTigue said.

Dr. McTigue says these antibody infusions along with continuing to push the COVID-19 vaccine are two of the best ways to keep children in the commonwealth safe. Dr. McTigue also discussed the Pfizer request for FDA approval for the vaccine in children ages five through eleven and says that the FDA will be meeting at the end of Oct. to formally review the product.