*sigh*Argh! Angry, Confused, Scared.

[Merlin]

I wish it could be like the chicken pox with kids, and just have expose parties while the vaccine is so rare. But, the virus is so contagious, that it can even kill a healthy kid.

I've read that there are a whopping 30 healthy kids in the entire US under 18 that died from it.  The others had at least 1 co-morbidities (37 had 1, 54 had 2+). 120 kids total out of 330 million people.

I am not sure where those numbers came from. I've read about otherwise healthy kids dying or ending up in extended intensive care from MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory disease) from exposure to COVID-19. It seemed far more prevalent than 18 kids, but I haven't really done the research on that.

Not to mention, for statistical transparency sake, it's not 120 kids out of 330 million since not all 330 million have been exposed so far... we only know of about ~17 million confirmed cases in the US, but obviously, exposures are going to be at least 2-3 x that number. Either way, I agree that the number is kids who are dying from this is tiny statistically.

My problem is less about kids catching it and dying or having major symptoms (since we know that is a pretty low chance), but they may recover from the virus with hidden problems that could rear their heads years down the line. We know that Covid can cause all kinds of terrible long-term problems and we don't know why or how to tell for sure who will be most vulnerable. It isn't just comorbidities that trigger them since apparently healthy people have major problems (including those with "Long Covid"). I have a friend (well, technically it's my wife's friend) who is a nurse who is is young and healthy (or was) and has been trying to recover from Covid exposure for the last few months. She's mostly better but is still dealing with medical problems like low oxygen levels, fatigue, and blood clots. So, this isn't like the flu. It can also affect the heart, kidneys, brain, cardiovascular system, and GI system. Possibly more since we don't know all the things that can be affected since this isn't a human-focused virus.

If this were just the chickenpox or the flu, I also wouldn't have any issue sending my kids to an exposure party to contract it. Our bodies know how to handle that. You never which kids are going to be that 0.01% who have severe reactions or end up with major complications like MIS-C. Speaking of Covid parties, I recall there was a story that was circulating back in the first few months of Covid about a family who sent their 16-year-old daughter to a Covid party and the girl ended up being intubated and eventually died. I'd hate to be those parents.

So my concerns are the above, plus anyone they spread it to in the meantime, including teachers and their families who aren't kids and don't have such a low chance of severe reactions. If my daughter gets it, even if she doesn't have any issues, she'll probably infect my wife and I who are more likely to have more severe reactions. Speaking of, I just saw a news report about a little boy whose parents both died from Covid. The little boy just celebrated his 5th birthday (same as my daughter), so it kind of hit home for me. Luckily his community came together to make it super special for him. But that isn't what I want for my kid.