San Diego

How to Resume to Normal Life When Your Child is Not Vaccinated

Dr. Christopher Longhurst, the associate chief medical officer at UC San Diego Health, is a father of two himself and says he’s asking himself the same questions

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People are slowly making it back to their normal routines. But what happens to those whose kids aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine and does their return look somewhat different than others?

Dr. Christopher Longhurst, the associate chief medical officer at UC San Diego Health, is a father of two himself and says he’s asking himself the same questions on how to navigate unchartered waters and what’s best for the safety of all.

Longhurst says honestly it’s not as complicated as you might think because kids carry a low risk when it comes to COVID-19. The CDC considers most kids to have mild to zero symptoms if they do end up getting COVID-19.

“Healthy children without immunocompromise are going to be fine. So I think it’s very safe to mingle if you’re fully vaccinated with children,” Dr. Longhurst says.

When it comes to those summer plans, you might not have to put them on pause because your kids have not been inoculated. NBC 7 spoke with Colin Mackay who says he feels confident his kids will be fine and is ready to transition to some sense of normal.

"I don’t know if we’re the normal family. but I want my kids to have the joy they had prior to the March shutdown," Mackay says.

And as for the kids themselves, MacKay says they’re eager and ready to return to life pre-pandemic and have no reservations about beginning that process.

“They want to get back to everything that they’re normally used to with their friends, seeing their family, and traveling more, “ Mackay says.

Longhurst says parents still need to practice caution when it comes to who their unvaccinated kids come in contact with. He says if parents think their child is carrying COVID-19, be sure to keep their masks on so they don't spread the virus to someone else who has not been inoculated against COVID-19. The doctor also strongly urged to keep up mask wearing indoors where transmission can potentially happen.

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