Ameeta Martin, M.D.
Meet the Maximizer
Dr. Ameeta Martin talks about how COVID-19 vaccines keep our communities safe and help kids stay in school.
Ameeta Martin, MD, is a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.
Why is it important that kids are vaccinated against COVID-19?
It’s very important for kids to be vaccinated because approximately 90% of the kids that are hospitalized for COVID have not been vaccinated. And those are 90% of admissions that could potentially have been avoided if they were vaccinated.
Are there long-term effects of COVID-19 on kids?
The data shows that 15 to 75% of kids can have COVID lingering symptoms. We see many kids with chronic fatigue or difficulty breathing, or just inability to exercise like they were previously.
How do the children in your life benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine?
I feel every child in my life benefits from the COVID vaccine. First, as a physician and a cardiologist, I would love it if every one of my patients were vaccinated, but unfortunately a large majority are not vaccinated, and I encourage them all to do so. As a mother and grandmother, it’s really important in my life that all of the children that I’m around are vaccinated.
How does vaccinating kids against COVID-19 benefit the community?
Kids getting vaccinated for COVID 19 really benefits the community because 20% of kids are asymptomatic when they have COVID. If they have COVID and don’t have any symptoms, then they unknowingly infect other children and adults in the community that they’re exposed to and therefore propagate COVID-19 in that community.
How does COVID-19 impact kids headed back to school?
COVID-19 impacts learning at every level. Not only does it affect kids who’ve had COVID, because it can cause brain fog, but it also impacts every child that hasn’t even had COVID due to all the psychosocial reasons. A lot of them will have to have remote learning due to COVID and then just the mental health factor of either being in or out of the classroom impacts learning for every child and every teacher involved.