Executive Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed people’s lives including high school students. American’s life expectancy has shortened due to COVID-19. Vaccine is the public health miracle that will restore the normalcy of our society. Because vaccination is the best proven way to help combat COVID-19, we need to get as many teenagers vaccinated as possible to stop the spread of COVID-19. The current parent and guardian consent law for vaccination of minors slows the progress of teenager vaccination. My proposal will enlist high school students to advocate for a policy change to allow teenagers to make their own decision on vaccination in consultation with their health care providers instead of the current parent/guardian consent; and to advocate wearing masks indoors. The community will benefit from this policy change because more teenagers will be protected from COVID-19.
Introduction
Literature Review
The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed people’s lives including high school students. American’s life expectancy has shortened due to COVID-19. The traditional in-person learning, sports and social activities were halted due to the concern of spreading the disease. Although high school students did not suffer the highest mortality rate from COVID-19 among the population, we felt isolated physically and mentally because of the social distancing protocols mandated for our activities. Remote learning exacerbated the isolation as we could only interact with our teachers and our fellow classmates online. There is an urgency for the high school students and our society to return to a level of pre-COVID-19 normalcy for the purpose of improving our mental health which is another important aspect of public health that has long term ramification on teenagers.
The vaccine for COVID-19 is the public health miracle that will help restore the normalcy of our society. Because vaccination is the best proven way to help combat COVID-19, we need to get as many teenagers vaccinated as possible to stop the spread of COVID-19. The current parent and guardian consent law for vaccination of minors slows the progress of teenager vaccination. The proposed policy change will let teenagers make their own decision on vaccination in consultation with their health care providers instead of the current parent/guardian consent.
There are three research articles supporting this proposed policy. First, a study from 169 elementary schools from Georgia published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Fewer COVID-19 Cases in Schools With Masks and Improved Ventilation,” showed that the teachers and staff who wore masks had 37% less COVID-19 cases than schools without a mask requirement; and that the students who wore masks had 21% fewer COVID-19 cases than those where mask use was optional.
Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Study Suggests Lasting Immunity After COVID-19, With a Big Boost From Vaccination,” showed that vaccination is the key to have lasting immunity after Covid -19. The researchers followed 87 individuals for a 6-month follow-up and 63 individuals for the 12-month visit to determine the levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in their body. The study compared unvaccinated individuals with participants who had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The 3rd study which was also published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “COVID-19 Vaccination of Minors Without Parental Consent - Respecting Emerging Autonomy and Advancing Public Health,” urged change to the existing state minor consent laws on seeking health care including vaccination needs to reduce teenager’s burden to access life-saving vaccines; and recommended having a sliding scale of minors’ vaccination decision where teenagers ages 12-17 could make their own decisions in consultation with their health care providers.
Based on the three research papers, by increasing minor’s access to the COVID-19 vaccine by having a sliding scale of minors’ vaccination decision and with increased mask wearing and improvement of the school ventilation system, and the proven effectiveness of the Covid vaccine, the spread of COVID-19 will be minimized among teenagers at school or other indoor and outdoor places where teenagers gather.
Rationale
A news article that tracks teenager COVID-19 vaccination rates showed a strong correlation between parents/guardian’s’ education attainment level and whether their teenager received the COVID-19 vaccine. In the areas where more educated parents reside such as the San Francisco Bay Area, the teenager vaccination rates are higher. For example, 70% of the teenagers in Marin County had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by May 31, 2021 while the California state average was 30%. Since the current minor consent law requires parents to make the vaccination decisions, the less educated parents may not give consent for their teenagers to receive vaccination and therefore putting their children at a higher risk of getting COVID-19 and in turn spreading the disease among their peers. In Contra Costa County where I live, as of July 22, 2021, the current COVID-19 vaccination rate for 12-15 year is 62% lowest among all age groups. The wealthiest location in my County, Diablo, had 91% vaccination rate vs. Oakley and Antioch, the poorest locations in my County, only had 51% vaccination rate.
By adopting a policy that puts teenagers in charge of their own vaccination decision in consultation with their health care providers and through peer-to-peer outreach and education, we would expect higher vaccination rates among teenagers especially in the less affluent areas in California including the San Francisco Bay Area.
Proposed Program
The proposal includes engaging high school students to lobby for changes to the minor consent law on health care decisions including vaccination, to urge the schools to improve ventilation; and to continue to wear masks indoors to reduce risks to COVID-19.
The program will be conducted at my high school, Carondelet High School in Concord. We have a diverse student body where the majority of the students came from all parts of Contra Costa County including the wealthy areas and the impoverished areas. The students would like to see equality in vaccination protection in all of our communities to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Key Design Decisions
Initiative Mission
The mission of my initiative is to improve the safety and health of our community from COVID-19 and to strive for equality in vaccination among teenagers in Contra Costa County by helping change the current parent consent law, wearing masks indoors and improving indoor ventilation.
Program Description
I propose to enlist help from students at the De La Salle High School and Carondelet High School. First, I plan to share my initiative with the joint De La Salle High School and Carondelet High School Pre-Med Club students and teachers to garner their input and support. Then, with the support from the Pre-Med Club, I plan to outreach to the student council at the Carondelet High School where I will be a sophomore to get student leadership’s support. I plan to use the student council platform to outreach to students during our in-person community events and various forums at the beginning of the school year.
Adjusting the Program
I plan to measure the success of the program by the number of student signatures gathered to petition the change of the parental consent law of health care. After securing 100 signatures, I plan to present it to the Contra Costa County Health Service. I may also reach out to the news media outlet to increase the visibility of the project. I hope the Teens in Health platform will help me get the message out to other teens.
Bibliography
Abbasi J. Study Suggests Lasting Immunity After COVID-19, With a Big Boost From Vaccination. JAMA. Published online July 14, 2021. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1171
Contra Costa County Health Services, “Vaccine Dashboard.” Coronavirus, www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/vaccine-dashboard. Accessed 22 July, 2021.
Kuehn BM. Fewer COVID-19 Cases in Schools With Masks and Improved Ventilation. JAMA. 2021;326(2):125. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.10044.
Morgan L, Schwartz JL, Sisti DA. COVID-19 Vaccination of Minors Without Parental Consent: Respecting Emerging Autonomy and Advancing Public Health. JAMA Pediatr. Published online July 12, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.1855
Neilson, Susie. “Teenagers Are Getting Vaccinated in These California Counties.” San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 June 2021, www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Teenagers-are-getting-vaccinated-in-these-16223070.php.
