Kids could be at higher risk of COVID-19 with loosened mask mandates, physician says

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A pediatric infectious disease expert at Upstate Hospital said kids could be at higher risk of catching COVID-19 if unvaccinated people abuse the state's relaxed mask mandates.

Vaccines are only approved for ages 12 and up, so younger children are not yet eligible to get the shot.

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"The vaccines work really well, so if you're fully vaccinated as a child you're protected from symptomatic and severe disease," said Dr. Jana Shaw. "However, not all children are eligible for vaccination so we will have to be vigilant and protect them.”

Some Central New Yorkers share this concern, like Helen Bolen of Bernhards Bay, whose grandson is not yet vaccinated.

“I will have him wear a mask, and if it’s okay with wherever I am, I will go without a mask because I am vaccinated," she said. "So I will protect him in whatever way I need to do.”

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Joseph Severson, of Homer, is relieved by the relaxed masking requirements.

“I’m really excited. Give them more freedom and let them see a little bit of what the world was like before," he said.

Shaw said that although younger children generally have milder cases of COVID-19, they can still get very sick. Unvaccinated children should still wear a mask in public.

Healthy, vaccinated parents with healthy, unvaccinated children can go without a mask in public, Shaw said, unless the children are considered vulnerable.