COVID Vaccine Update: Lining Up For Shots 💉
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Season 2: Episode 45 Description
In today's episode: 🦠 What's happening with the new Omicron variant and how do kids feel about getting vaccinated? Host Bethany Van Delft breaks down how variants are named. ❤️ Hear a few special messages from fellow Ten'ers about their experiences getting the vaccine. 💉 Curious about what a booster shot is? Jacob and Olivia from the Curious Kid Podcast join to break it down for us. And test your body knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources for the episode
Factbox: Countries vaccinating children against COVID-19 | Reuters
Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know | CDC
alphabet | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
15 Facts About The Human Body! - National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)
Blood Vessels: Types, Anatomy, Function & Conditions (clevelandclinic.org)
Links
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:04
How do kids feel about getting vaccinated? And how much of a real problem is the new Omicron variant?
Sound Bit 0:11
CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, are we just redefining what it means to be fully vaccinated? You know, what we know is that the more mutations a variant has the more immune protection that you need.
Bethany Van Delft 0:22
Today, we're catching up on COVID News. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Thursday, December 16th. And this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:30
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:38
Kids are getting vaccinated. 4.9 million 5 to 11-year-olds living in the United States have now had at least one Pfizer shot and 15.6 million 12 to 17-year-olds have also had at least one dose, and that is something to celebrate. Meanwhile, a new COVID variant has emerged. The new variant was first detected in four foreign diplomats visiting Botswana, then in South Africa, and now has been reported in at least 57 countries. The new variant has been named Omicron, which is a Greek letter that looks like an "O." Scientists are still studying Omicron. But, they suspect it might be easier to catch than other COVID-19 strains. Okay, that's bad. However, the Center for Disease Control is confident that wearing masks and getting vaccinated will help prevent serious illness from any of the COVID variants, including Omicron. Nice. Getting a shot can be scary. When Dr. Alok Patel joined us a few weeks ago, he told us to own our nervousness, and lots of you Ten'ers have done just that, and then shared with us your experiences of getting your vaccine. Thank you. The Ten'er, Lelani had a bit of a challenge finding a shot.
Lelani 2:03
Hi, I'm Lelani and I'm 10. And I went to get my vaccine today, but they ran out of kids' vaccines. So, we went to another place but there were 1,000s of people in front of us.
Bethany Van Delft 2:14
But, then a week later, was able to get her appointment.
Speaker 1 2:17
I did the vaccine and when I did it, it felt like nothing. It just felt like a non-painful pinch.
Speaker 2 2:25
Thank you for coming on this adventure with me.
Bethany Van Delft 2:28
When our Ten News Executive Producer Tracy Leeds Kaplan took her son, Owen, for his shot, he was a little nervous, but Owen found that recording his experience for the show helped distract him.
Tracy Leeds Kaplan 2:39
Okay, so here we are for the Ten News, and Owen is getting ready for his. How are you feeling?
Owen 2:44
Nervous? Oh, it just happened. I'm aware of that.
Tracy Leeds Kaplan 2:48
And, you're done. That's it. Owen, so it's done. What did you think?
Owen 2:55
It hurt less than a flu shot.
Bethany Van Delft 2:57
And Ten'er, Tyrion was so excited about his first dose, he sent us a little message celebrating.
Tyrion 3:04
Hi, my name is Tyrion. And I got my first COVID vaccine shot. And it just felt like a little pinch.
Bethany Van Delft 3:14
Ten News snaps to all our special reporters on their recent vaccinations. Congratulations. Have you noticed a lot of grownups lining up for their COVID vaccines again? Adults who have had their first vaccine shot, which is two shots for Pfizer, or Maderna. And one shot for Johnson & Johnson is now due for a booster shot. So, what are boosters? And how do they work? Let's go to friends of the Ten, Jacob and Olivia Rosensweig from the Curious Kid Podcast for an explanation.
Jacob Rozencwaig 3:53
It was just over a year ago that the first vaccine was approved for COVID-19. Since then, over 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated.
Olivia Rozencwaig 4:04
If so many people are fully vaccinated. Why are lots of people now getting booster shots?
Jacob Rozencwaig 4:11
That's a great question. And in order to answer the question, it helps to think about how vaccines work in the first place.
Olivia Rozencwaig 4:18
When you get your COVID vaccine. No matter which one you get. It leads to an immune response in your body. What does that mean?
Jacob Rozencwaig 4:28
The body is amazing. And one thing that does really well is identifying something that doesn't belong.
Olivia Rozencwaig 4:34
The COVID virus has spiked proteins attached to it that don't look like anything that belongs in the body.
Jacob Rozencwaig 4:42
But the COVID virus could be very harmful. So scientists came up with vaccines that help create spike proteins in the body that are completely harmless.
Olivia Rozencwaig 4:52
But, your body will still recognize that those spike proteins don't belong in your body.
Jacob Rozencwaig 4:59
That's when your immune system fights to attack the spike proteins by creating antibodies.
Olivia Rozencwaig 5:07
And after you get the vaccine, the antibodies are just created to fight off spike proteins stick around just in case they need to fight off spike proteins again.
Jacob Rozencwaig 5:18
That's how your body is much better prepared to fight off COVID-19. After you get vaccinated.
Olivia Rozencwaig 5:25
Yes, there's only one problem though. After you get the COVID vaccine, you have tons of antibodies to fight COVID. But over time, the number of antibodies starts to slowly drop.
Jacob Rozencwaig 5:37
I like to think of it the way I think about putting gas in a car. Once I fill up my gas tank with gas, my car can drive for a long, long time before needing more gas. But, as I keep driving, the amount of gas in the car drops very slowly.
Olivia Rozencwaig 5:55
That's why you will eventually need to refill the gas every once in a while.
Jacob Rozencwaig 6:02
In the same way, it's already been shown that the COVID vaccine gives lots of protection to those who get vaccinated. But over time, that protection might start to drop slowly as the number of antibodies goes down.
Olivia Rozencwaig 6:16
That's why COVID vaccine boosters are now being recommended for grownups. The boosters help replenish the antibodies that attack spike proteins.
Jacob Rozencwaig 6:26
Scientists aren't 100% sure how frequent booster shots might be needed, or for how much longer we will need to protect ourselves from COVID. But, early study suggests that getting a booster dose helps give extra protection from COVID-19.
Olivia Rozencwaig 6:42
And it does that by giving the body's amazing immune system a boost. We wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year.
Bethany Van Delft 6:51
Thank you for the update. To learn more cool things from Jacob and Olivia, check them out on the Curious Kid Podcast. Delta, Omicron. How do COVID variants get their names? It's all Greek to me and to you. Because the letters are letters from the Greek alphabet, get it? There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet and they're often used in math, science, and medicine. Greek letters are also used to name college fraternities, sororities, and academic clubs. The word alphabet actually comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha, and beta, awesome. Omicron is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. Delta, as in the Delta variant you've probably already heard of, is the fourth letter. There are seven variants scientists are watching closely and naming them after Greek letters allow them to communicate about the variants more easily. Plus, it's way easier to remember the letter Omicron than the scientific name b.1.5-9, which is a mouthful. Now, let's see what else is happening. Tragedies struck our nation's Heartland this past weekend, at least 40 tornadoes touched down and caused widespread destruction in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. If you or your grown-ups are looking for ways to help USA Today and other news websites have listed ways to help the victims and we've included the links in our show notes. The annual Game Awards were held last week in Los Angeles. The Game of the Year award went to a multiplayer puzzle-solving game called, It Takes Two, and a trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie was also revealed at the event. I was not expecting this. Speaking of puzzles. Each year, Britain's biggest spy agency GCHQ sends out a holiday card with some really hard puzzles. This year the puzzles were created for kids ages 11 to 18. If you want to find out if you have what it takes to be a spy, grab a grown-up and download the card on the GCHQ website. And now, for your...
Various Voices 9:26
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:30
Trivia on the Ten. When we get a vaccine, it travels through our body via blood vessels. Humans have miles and miles of blood vessels in their bodies. What's that, you say? How far would a grown-up blood vessels reach if he laid them end to end? Is it a) two times around Earth's equator, b) four times around Earth's equator, or, c) seven times around Earth's equator? Did you guess it? The answer is B. All the blood vessels in a grownup's body laid out in line will circle the Earth four times. Blood vessels are super important. They deliver nutrients and oxygen to our organs and tissues. And they also carry away waste and carbon dioxide. Good job, blood vessels. Human bodies are pretty amazing, don't you think? Time's up. But, before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is in line waiting for their boosters and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, Tessa Flannery, and Nathalie Alonso. Jacob and Olivia Rosensweig contributed to this episode. And a special thanks to our Ten'ers for sharing their vaccine experiences. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to the Ten News. I am boosted and ready to go. Come on, Omicron what you got? No, stay away. Stay, seriously. I got a mask on. You just stay over there.
