Shouldn’t our desire be to protect our children?

By Dr. Heather Witcher Bozant
Clarion Herald

Putting the final touches on my fall syllabi, I noted the mandatory COVID-19 policy that has had prominent placement on my syllabi for four of the five semesters that I’ve been employed in Montgomery, Alabama.

Masks are mandatory, regardless of vaccination status.

That’s a small victory, for my family at least. Until just a few weeks ago, masks were required only for the unvaccinated – which, in effect, meant that masks were optional. I had been concerned enough that I had consulted our pediatrician about what risks I would be taking as I walked into a classroom of predominantly unmasked and unvaccinated students during a time when COVID numbers were peaking.

Yes, even though I am vaccinated, I could still be exposed and bring the virus home to my three young children.

That was when I became frustrated. And then I became angry.

Like many parents, I’ve watched with increasing alarm as hospitals  – particularly children’s hospitals – once again near capacity. We’ve heard from pediatricians and doctors about the surge of cases, about the need for people to be vaccinated, about the increased risk of contagion that the Delta variant has for children and the immunocompromised.

Despite the pleadings, nothing changed. Instead, what had been prophesied occurred: There are limited, if any, beds for patients that need care beyond COVID incidents.

I’m horrified. I thank God each night that my 5-month-old doesn’t have the same medical complications that my twins had at this age. It sickens me to remember the biweekly trips to the children’s hospital for their feeding difficulties; the surgery that my son needed to enable him to breathe and swallow; the hospitalizations for reflux and lack of weight gain.

“Thank God,” I pray, as I rock my youngest, “that you don’t need the hospital.” Because there would be no room.

I’ve learned a lot during the pandemic. One of the more tragic outcomes is the feeling that children are expendable. What else am I to think when I see the numbers of children being affected – both directly and indirectly – by COVID? Everyone wants a return to normal, but at what cost?

When the CDC loosened the mask mandates, I was confused. Haven’t children suffered enough? Wouldn’t they still be at risk? Despite the lack of hospitalizations and deaths, children are still affected by the “normal” strain of COVID, suffering physically from debilitating Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS) and long-COVID.

But they also suffer emotionally and mentally: Schools and education were changed seemingly overnight; bubbles were erected; socialization was limited.

We’ll continue to see the effects of these changes on “pandemic children.” I can already see increased separation anxiety and delays in speech with my own children.

We’re told to protect our children and the immunocompromised, but how can we when vaccination has become politicized and when masking has been condemned and seen as a violation of personal freedoms?

Everyone wants a return to normal. I certainly don’t want to live in a world where my children can’t recognize facial cues. But I can’t help but think that we would be in a much better situation if we acted a bit more selflessly by getting the jab to protect not only yourself but those who are unable and by masking to protect those around you.

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