The Pandemic Is Taking A Toll On Parents Of Young Children

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🗓️ 7 February 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

For parents with young children, the anxiety induced by the pandemic has been compounded by the stress that accompanies school closures and childcare shortages.

Additionally, children under 5 are the last demographic in the U.S. unable to get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, that might change soon as Pfizer and its partners at BioNTech are filing a submission for emergency use of its vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration for a regimen for children under 5.

We talk about the challenges that come with vaccinating children. And we examine the psychological toll the pandemic has taken on parents with young kids.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I have two kids under the age of five. One was born just before the start of the pandemic.
0:12.8	And unlike her older brother, she wasn't able to attend story hours or music groups or
0:18.5	play groups with other kids and get that socialization. We have both of them now in a nursery
0:24.4	school, preschool, and there's a lot of confusion regarding the protocol. And it feels like every
0:30.6	other day you're getting a text message telling you that school will be open or we don't know if
0:35.2	school will be open or there's not enough teachers, which leads to a lot of anxiety, not having a good
0:41.2	schedule for the kids, the routine, also paying out a pocket for private child care or irregular
0:47.6	working hours. We've entered our second year of the coronavirus pandemic and by now many of us
0:53.6	have experienced some of the burnout and anxiety that comes with living through a global health crisis.
0:59.2	For the parents of young children, that burnout and anxiety has been compounded by the stress
1:04.4	that comes with school closures and child care shortages. Children under five are the last
1:09.4	demographic in the U.S. to be cleared for a COVID vaccine. But on Tuesday, Pfizer asked the FDA
1:15.1	to authorize a two-dose vaccine regimen for children under five. So what are the challenges that
1:20.6	come with vaccinating children and what psychological impact has the pandemic had on the parents of
1:25.6	young kids? We'll discuss all that and more after the break. I'm Jen White. You're listening to the
1:31.1	OneA podcast where we get to the heart of the story. Remember to join future conversations,
1:36.5	download our OneA Vox Pop app and leave us a voicemail.
1:44.2	Support for NPR and the following message come from BetterHelp, offering online counseling.
1:49.0	BetterHelp therapist Hesu Jo knows that lockdown has been hard on us as humans.
1:53.6	We as people are hardwired to connect with others, which is why this whole time is so difficult.
1:59.0	The connection that happens between people can be very powerful and how healing it can be
2:04.9	to have a healthy relationship with someone. To get matched with a counselor within 48 hours and
	...

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