Good Parenting during a Pandemic
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/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2021

Good Parenting during a Pandemic

There are so many important things we do as parents to help our children become happy and healthy adults. Vaccinating your child fits right in with the other crucial lessons you are teaching them every day.

Prepare them for emergencies. Whenever you insist your child to put on their seat belt or review your family’s fire evacuation plan, you are helping to prepare your child to survive a worst-case scenario. We can’t protect our kids from everything, but we can prepare them. Vaccines give your child the best preparation for fighting COVID and could help them avoid long-term consequences.

Show them how to evaluate information. You teach your child to evaluate two different products at the grocery store, because you want them to know a good value when they see it. It may involve numbers, calculations, and expert reviews, but you know it is an important skill. The data and expert reviews supporting vaccination are overwhelming. There are so many benefits, practically no drawbacks, and they are free. You can’t get a better value than that!

Encourage self-discipline. Brushing your teeth twice a day, doing your homework, practicing your sport or instrument. We insist that our children do these things, because we know that a small investment in time and effort now will pay off in the long run and that they will be healthier and happier as a result. The same goes for getting them vaccinated. It’s a little bit of effort now that increases the likelihood of their health and success later.

Teach them to be kind and considerate. You encourage your children to say please and thank you, so that they come to understand the value of others. Vaccinating teaches the same concept in a different way. You vaccinate so that you are less likely to pass the virus to others and because you care about your community.

The single action of vaccinating your child is good for their health and the health of everyone they encounter starting as soon as the shot is given. It also teaches them important lessons that they will carry throughout their lives.

Meghan Gunn, MD, is a pediatrician with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Pediatrics, part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, in Bennington.

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Moving Forward Safely

One of the most frustrating and anxiety-producing traits of our COVID –19 pandemic is how much uncertainty is involved in all aspects of this disease. Symptoms caused by the Coronavirus, age groups affected, the usefulness of medications, anticipated death rate, and the timeline for development of a vaccine are examples of information that sometimes change on a weekly basis.

Vermonters have done a great job of limiting the spread of the virus and protecting our most vulnerable neighbors by following the Governor's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order over the past few months. Now, we've all been directed to wear masks in public. Both Bennington and Wilmington's Select Boards have passed local mandates requiring masks in public places. Thanks to these efforts—along with distancing, handwashing, and other factors—Vermont is among the states with the fewest number of infections. Continuing each of these important infection-prevention strategies is crucial to returning to a more normal way of life.

As we open up and begin to re-connect, we fully expect to see a rise in COVID –19 cases in Vermont. Thankfully, we have had time to prepare for this increase. We also have adequate PPE, and increased testing will help us gather crucial information for stemming the spread with less disruption to our normal lives.

More than ever, I find it helpful to focus on what we have learned and how it can help us move forward safely. Here is some of what we have learned so far: Most large hospitals, often treating over 1000 COVID patients daily, effectively protected their workers by obsessively following the rules of screening, hygiene, distancing, and masking. Each of these components is designed to work together; Each alone has its inherent limits.

  • Absent quick testing at the workplace, the best screening is asking employees if they have COVID-like symptoms (fever, chills, new cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of taste or smell) and to stay home if they do.
  • Washing our hands (or using sanitizer) after touching well-handled items or visiting populated areas. Washing your hands 10 times daily is not too often.
  • Though an uncovered sneeze or cough can travel farther, 6 feet distancing continues to be the sweet spot for safety.
  • Masks (double layer cotton and surgical) are effective to prevent spreading of large and some small droplets containing virus. They also seem to give some minimal protection to those wearing a mask. Since possibly 40 percent of transmission happens when we do not have symptoms, we wear our masks to protect others and to suppress overall infection rate. They also help many people (not all) to avoid touching their face. The downside is a warm chin; the upside is you may be protecting someone from a significant illness. Masks are not a symbol of government intrusion. Masks are simply a tool to protect others and show empathy.

It is difficult to predict how many COVID-19 infections will occur in our communities in the coming months. What I am certain of is that our choices, on where we go and what we do, often affect the safety of those around us. As we learn to live with this virus in our community, following the recommendation above will help us all.

Marie George, MD, is SVMC’s infectious disease specialist.

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