As schools around the country open, there are concerns over the delta variant, and possibly other strains of the coronavirus that haven’t yet landed in America, and the impact on another school year. Nationwide, children now account for an estimated 15% of all newly reported COVID-19 cases.
“At this point in time, the one blessing in all this is that while kids are getting sick, they are not getting seriously ill,” said Lindsay Neptune, a pediatric nurse practitioner and Director of Clinical Services at Open Door’s school-based health centers, which have seven locations at schools in Ossining and Port Chester. “Still, we need to do whatever we can to protect the kids and give them the best chance to have a normal quality of life. We have seen a rise in anxiety and depression because they haven’t been living a normal life. We need to get ahead of this.”
Last year at this time, the reality was very different. There were few if any proven treatments for the virus and there was no vaccine. At the same time, however, much of the country was not coming off an entire school year where schools bounced between in-person and remote classes, often at a moment’s notice, and students, in many cases, lost their social bearings with friends and fell behind in their classwork.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there and people need to go back to relying on what we know, what we can prove. This is why education is such an important part of what we do. Most of all, people don’t want to be back to a lockdown,” said Neptune. “It all starts,” she said, “with getting people vaccinated – at a time when more than four in ten New Yorkers remain unvaccinated.”
Neptune and her staff have been focused on educating families about vaccinations. Calling education the “hallmark of public health,” she and her staff put the need for vaccinations and mask wearing at the top of their list in any parental discussions. “Parents have been eager to get preventive care visits. This allows us to have conversations about the vaccine and wearing masks and try to put them at ease.”
She said that templates are in place at Open Door’s school-based health centers to reach out to parents once a vaccine for younger children – under 12 – is approved. She believes that due to the new strain, which preys primarily on the unvaccinated of any age, this will happen soon.
“Parents are anxious because in many cases they have older children who have been vaccinated and younger ones who haven’t,” said Neptune. “They want to make sure their kids can go to school and can do extracurricular activities. Many parents have returned to work and can’t be home with their children. Our job is to work with the school districts to give them as normal a year as humanly possible.”
Open Door makes it easy for children to get vaccinated at their school-based health centers. Vaccines are free and easily accessible. The only requirement is the signing of parental consent forms.
“Kids, particularly adolescents, may not fear the virus, but are fearful about the social restrictions that come with quarantine. They don’t want to go back to their room for another six months,” she said. “We’re trying to take the stress out of the equation and provide these services. Our job is not to be part of the challenge, but rather part of the solution.”
Visit OpenDoorMedical.org for more information.
