 Following the recent approval from the FDA, the COVID-19 vaccine will now be available to children from ages 5 to 11. As such, Mountaintop News spoke with Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner for the Department of Public Health for more information on this latest vaccine update. First of all, it's a fantastic, the good day because the CDC and the FDA have now approved COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. The panels that reviewed this unanimously recommended the approval. The safety profile is exceptional or it's not a single child who had any significant adverse events. The side effects were similar to adults. They may have been a little fatigued or achy after the vaccine, which is common after vaccines, but the children have done very, very well. The vaccine offers the hope of having 90% or better effectiveness to prevent a significant illness in children, which is of enormous importance. So up till this point in the pandemic nationwide, there have been more than 8,300 children aged 5 to 11 admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. And of those, there have been about 745 children who have died from COVID-19 in the ages 5 to 11. So if this vaccine is 90% effective, that means close to 700 children would not have succumbed to COVID-19 over the course of the journey. So and I think we all know I'm a parent and for all other parents out there, the death of any child is one death too many, and particularly when they could be prevented. So it's an exciting day and I urge everyone to consult with your pediatrician, your primary care provider, make sure you have your questions answered. We want parents to feel confident and comfortable that they're doing what is safe and good for their children. But the experts in public health and the experts who review medications for their safety and value all agree at this point that these vaccines are a useful tool and very helpful to keep kids safe. And importantly, to help lower the likelihood they bring the infection home to their parents, their grandparents and others who may be far more vulnerable to very serious illness. And this is the way we help get us all out of this COVID-19 mess and get back to our lives the way we miss them. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute, we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting edge technology, providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. When asked about the prevalence of side effects from the vaccine in children during their trials, Dr. Stack revealed some relieving results. The over 3,000 children that they included in the trial that led to this approval, not a single one of those 3,000 children had the myocarditis or the heart inflammation that has been present in some younger people with the full dose adult strength vaccine. It doesn't mean that there won't be some over time that don't develop that, but importantly, none of them had it for the original trial and will continue to monitor it. And we already know from all the adolescents who have been vaccinated so far and young adults, not a single person who's had that myocarditis, a child or adolescent, has had any difficulty recovering from it. There's not been a single death. And to the best we know, there's been not any long term consequences of it. Your risks of getting serious illness or complications from the virus itself are manyfold higher. In conclusion, Dr. Stack had a simple yet crucial message that he hoped might reach those individuals who may still be hesitant to get vaccinated. Our health and well-being, all of us individually and for those who most care about is really important. You know, the saying goes without your health, you don't have much. And so it's really, really important that we make good choices to try to keep ourselves healthy and well so we can enjoy our lives and be present for our friends, our family and those we care about. COVID has been horrible. It's disrupted our society. It's interfered with a whole lot of stuff in the world as we know it. In all these previous big outbreaks of infection, vaccinations have been the way that humanity has used science and intelligence and our God-given ability to solve problems to get out of these messes. And this is the same thing that's happened with smallpox and with polio and with a variety of other things. So I would urge people to be open to this. And again, talk with folks you trust who have chosen to get vaccinated. And I think you'll hopefully find yourself eventually with the position of comfort to go out and make that choice to get your shot of hope. I think I want people to feel comfortable and I want people to feel respected that we appreciate we all come at these decisions from different perspectives. But there are some decisions that are objectively better than others. And I hope you can reach a position of comfort to choose to get vaccinated. For Mountaintop News, I'm Joshua Sloan.