I hear you on that. The majority of parents haven't vaccinated their 5-11 year olds. I feel good about my husband and I being vaccinated. I think that helps protect them, but there are no guarantees. I wish more adults would have made the choice before I started seriously considering it for my children. Multiple shots as babies they forget... but this will be a process, and the end number of boosters is unknown.

Is there any hope for more Covid vaccine options any time soon for children, other than Pfizer? What about for adults here in the US? We haven't gotten the kids vaccinated--my husband and I differ--though I can--but now I am concerned about bringing them into public during this surge. I'm mulling over it, to do it now, or to wait in hopes things simmer down as we can be home a lot. But... We live in a low-vax rate area. I don't think it will ever change. It is a rural county, large geographically, with 100,000 in population. And we are in an even less-vaccinated zip code within that county. I don't need to know everyone's vaccine status, but while many mask there always seem to be those who do not and those who do not social distance. It is honestly very frustrating to me. I feel like things could have been different. Some places will likely get over this sooner than others, and I feel like we will lag far behind...

I honestly cannot believe how h-bent these schools are on returning to in-person learning at this moment. My children are homeschooled, but I live in a district where the school board voted to make the school mask-optional before the governor reinstated the indoor mask mandate. The school doesn't do testing, no barriers, no distancing, etc. They are relying on parents to be honest, but I know there are a few who see this all as some kind of hoax. The school and its board have a lot of problems, though, and it is a failing school.

Oh fully vaxed means you've either had two doses and are not eligible for a booster or you are vaxxed and boosted per guidance.

I thought these were the people hospitalized because of Covid-19. 😞 Right now they are pausing elective surgeries, and a doctor is quoted as saying, "These elective surgeries include cardiac bypass surgeries, neurologic surgery cases, joint replacements, and countless others." It's sad. I think a lot of people think of elective surgery as plastic/cosmetic surgery, and that is simply not the case. It is sometimes hard to find clear data, but I do believe a while back the trend was that most people who end up in a dire state usually have underlying health issues/obesity/age working against them. It doesn't make their lives any less valuable, and I worry, one day I might be one of them--it's awful that at present, some people blow it off.

Maybe they have different definitions as to what makes someone immunocompromised? I thought recently, only a 1/3 of eligible/recommended adults had gotten their boosters. I also live in a lower-vaccination area. I know, I don't find these numbers comforting. The vaccinated numbers have been going up a bit. Still, it seems being vaccinated is the right thing.

Here is ours. Blue/Green is vaxxed but overdue for booster/immuncomp unboosted.

After tears, he finally gave in and told me to take them to get vaccinated. Before I do so, I made them well-checks because in the past we've caught issues during those, and it has been since pre-pandemic any of them have been. Right now, I am not even comfortable taking them in for the vaccines because of the experience I had with a random unmasked crazy lady trying to take my booster coupon (I can't make that up! lol). We are going to stay pretty cautious and see what happens in the short term if that is safe (I am lucky---I homeschool, don't work, and my husband is a farmer so works at home now on business matters during the winter). We have four ICU beds left in our region. It could be because some are out sick (not all hospitals said get vax or quit--some allow test to stay), and the community doesn't care. I think we are just going to do a lot of staying home because of that alone. We literally have local nurses telling the grim reality and people criticizing them/calling them liars. 😞

That's sad that he is only six and you're already having to worry about bullying. However, I would only have him quit if he decided he wanted to explore other things. As long as he is supported by the studio and the other dancers, that is what matters most. Let that be his circle. I don't believe studying ballet makes someone gay, nor would quitting ballet make someone not gay, and of course you know that. So if he enjoys it, I would support him there. Anyone who makes fun of him is the one with the problem.

I was able to do a curbside at Walgreens, when we found a store with them in stock. Walmart has them for "pickup" as of today. But I have seen this, too, with others! I can't find a way to have Binax shipped to us.

Can a t-cell test provide some indication? Maybe it's hard to distinguish between vax/prior infection. Maybe they just have to "assume" any long covid symptom is due to a prior infection at this point? I'm just thinking out loud.

At this point, I am just feeling defeated by the whole thing. My husband said go ahead and get the kids vaccinated if I want (I know he isn't happy about that), but truthfully, I feel like if we do that, we are going to be exposed to Covid. My riskiest situation was when I got a booster at Walgreen's just over a week ago and a unmasked lady got in my face at the checkout wanting to use my $5 rewards coupon I was given for getting boosted! We have well checks scheduled, and I am going to ask if they can give children's vaccines there (I'm guessing no, though) before we go in. I've put off well-checks the entire pandemic, but we have found important health concerns that way in the past. I think about the poor at risk, immunocompromised people and my children right now, but I don't think at this point it is realistic to test so much for most people. We spent $48 on two boxes of Binax and already used one (we felt find but did it before we celebrated Christmas with the others who were able to get tested, and I know, those are not even a guarantee). I can't seem to find them anywhere, and appointments are hard to come by around here for the time being.

Thank you all for your comments. These are all points I have shared with him, and I think they are convincing ones for the vaccine. He still believes nothing. Often, he says he regrets his vaccines. He reads things such as Swedish microchip technology for humans and thinks this is where it is all headed. I can certainly make the decision to get the children vaccinated, but I would definitely be going against his wishes, and it would not be good for our marriage. I can't imagine I am the only person in this situation. In the meantime, I try to keep them safe. But the oldest has to go to the orthodontist soon, and I am trying to schedule their well-checks.

I think my husband just follows a handful of people on forums who link to things and post memes. He's the first one to say, though, that he thinks these companies should make big money so that they keep doing life-saving research. And he thinks the kids need to go for their well-checks, and one is due for his other boosters. I mumbled they'll probably tell me to vax for Covid. I honestly was hoping to have Novavax available for our children, but I don't know if that will happen anytime soon.

He has always supported giving the kids all of the recommended vaccines. He's said he just needs more time to see that they are safe for children, and he worries about the heart issues. I don't deny that there are not adverse reactions to the vaccines (even if rare), so that is in the back of my mind. I have shown him VAERS and how the other ones we gave have adverse events reported, too. I am just hoping he comes around. In the meantime, at least he masks and agrees the kids shouldn't go anywhere right now due to Omicron.

That is what I was thinking as well. I honestly do not think my husband will ever come around to agreeing to vaccines for our children. He is skeptical of everything, and I would say he sides with border-line conspiracy theorists and follows their sources. It doesn't even seem to matter a nurse treating our own child recommended the vaccine. It's become frustrating and my eyes are fatigued from all the rolling they do!

That's so sad about potential brain damage from the virus. 😞

Thank you so much! Yes, I told my husband that there have been times in our own nation's history people needed to take vaccines in a crisis situation. Even my father had one at school. I'm also trying to tell myself we have to get through this first before we can worry about the future. I will check out your resource. I decided for myself that I was more afraid of Covid than I was of the vaccine, so I'm just going to keep following the recommendations for now with boosters. Though we do worry about the vaccine, I would feel terrible if one of my children were one of the rare kids who got gravely ill from Covid or even had a mild case but got long-haul Covid.

These are great points. And I appreciate the conversation because I need to have some better points on my list of "pros" when making a decision with my husband. He has grown so skeptical. My grandma had one leg shorter than the other because she had Polio as a young child.

Thank you. I responded to someone else asking what to say before I read this. lol I have said the same thing to my husband, that the vaccine leaves the body. I should note we have a history of lead poisoning in our family. Our drinking water got contaminated, and my two oldest were lead poisoned, and they do have ongoing issues because of it. Lead does stay in the bones, we're both a bit nervous--he is just more against it than I am worried.

We talked about that, too. 4 of the 5 are given during babyhood. What would you say to someone who is hesitant due to not knowing of any potential long-term side effects of multiple mRNA shots in children (aside from most vaccine reactions occur shortly after injection/aside from Covid risks)? I think some vaccinated parents are hesitant for this reason. For the time being, my kids rarely go anywhere, are homeschooled, and wear kf94 masks the rare times they do go someplace. ETA I just read someone else's response to how to perhaps diffuse some of this concern. I am just very worried about Covid but still nervous about the vaccine. I also wish more adults would have considered it, and maybe we'd be in better shape. I also wish more adults would take precautions. Also noting, we have a history of lead poisoning in our family due to contaminated water, so I am sure that plays into our emotions.

That is something we have been doing throughout the whole pandemic. Some people are fortunate and don't have dental issues, but a few of us in my family do. My dentist office required the entire staff be vaccinated early on, and I am sure they were boosted. Now, the kids go to a pediatric dentist, and they are pretty good as well. When I took my oldest to his orthodontist consultation, a staffmember behind a tiny piece of plexiglass had her mask pulled down. It really bothered me because I consider that a medical office. I'd say most mask around here, but there are always a few who don't, and we don't have a high vaccination rate. Whenever I have put off the dentist, though, it's led to bad things. You can call ahead and ask about precautions, particularly any extra in light of omicron. I feel like this might be the strain that nobody can avoid, unfortunately. 😞

I just had mine on Sunday, but I originally had the one-and-done vaccine. Now my husband, who is vaccinated, is very skeptical of all the extra doses. How does one answer the question about not truly knowing what long-term effects so many injections could potentially have? I know vaccine reactions usually occur shortly after an injection, but it is true, we have never had mRNA vaccines. I know this technology has been studied for a long time, but does anyone truly know, especially if they are given to a developing child? My husband is skeptical about vaccinating our children, and while I would like to with a degree of certainty of safety, I do worry about the trauma of multiple shots, over and over again. They are just little children, and I have a large family. I feel like people are either anti-vaccines or don't ask these questions.

My husband's family just lost a distant relative to Covid-19. He was fully-vaccinated, but he also had co-morbidities. Our local hospitals I've read are getting overwhelmed, and still people think it is a joke. I am very worried if we need the hospital for another reason, that won't be an option for us. And my mother-in-law has whipple surgery pushed back from 1/3 to 1/7 for her pancreatic cancer. You cannot reach through to certain people. They believe everyone is lying, and they wonder how we can have assurance this vaccine won't harm us later on. I mean, I don't really truly know if it will have an effect on us later on. So my husband and I are at odds over potentially vaccinating our children. I really want to, but I admit I am scared and don't want to make a mistake that will haunt us later on. We're both vaxxed, and I got boosted (he doesn't meet the timeline criteria). I make the kids wear kf94 masks and filtered masks the rare times they are able to go indoors someplace. It's just getting really old. I am not ready to give up on life, but I expect an uptick in deaths from despair. This is just a really hard, depressing way to live. And I think some have chosen denial and skepticism to cope.

I think that is a good point, that we must understand it to teach it. I certainly didn't teach myself math, so I really don't expect to put my son into that situation. Math is such an important subject, and I think that is why I am doing a lot of deliberating on it. I liked Abeka because I felt like I had a lot of tools for teaching, but sometimes it felt like a lot of moving parts. I realize now it was much more effective than our Master Books curriculum. We switched because we'd have gone from a revised version to an unrevised grade level. Thank you for that tidbit on Jacob's--I didn't realize it had pre-algebra built into it.