Josue Gutierrez, M.D.
Meet the Maximizer
Dr. Josue Gutierrez talks about how COVID-19 vaccines help our kids and our communities.
Josue Gutierrez, MD, is a family physician at Saline Medical Specialties.
How do you feel COVID-19 has affected the lives of children?
COVID-19 has impacted the lives of children in multiple different ways. One is socially. I think that we have a lot of kids that need that social interaction and COVID-19 has truly blocked that from happening. We have kids that have not been going to school and we also have kids that need that structure of a school to really flourish.
Why is it important for kids to receive the COVID-19 vaccine?
It’s important for kids to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for multiple reasons. One is the protection vaccines provide them. COVID-19 vaccines are great at providing protection from severe disease. That doesn’t mean that kids might not get COVID, but they won’t get the severe case of COVID that would put them in the hospital. Decreasing those chances is of utmost importance. The next reason is integrating to normalcy. We need to vaccinate as many kids as we can so we can go back to some normalcy and get back to schools without feeling too much fear.
How does vaccinating kids against COVID-19 benefit you personally?
I have a young daughter who’s only four, so she’s not eligible for the vaccine right now. Having kids older than her get vaccinated truly gives me a sense of peace. It decreases the risk of her getting this disease.
How does vaccinating kids against COVID-19 benefit the community?
Kids getting vaccinated against COVID-19 truly does benefit the community in multiple different ways. One, it gives us that sense of safety. Kids will feel more protected against this disease. Emotionally, it will help kids as well, but in general it will also be beneficial because there will be more kids vaccinated, so less amount of spread will happen. That is truly the most important point of the vaccinations.
If someone came to you and said, “Dr. Gutierrez, why should my child get vaccinated?” how would you respond?
If someone came to me and asked me why their child should be vaccinated against COVID-19, I would say because it’s important for the child. We are decreasing the risk of a severe illness. It’s peace of mind for the parent, as well as the kid. It’s also what’s socially moral and good to do because we are helping our fellow man trying to get out of this pandemic. It truly benefits us all as a community.