Every second gentlemen in the United States, Mr. Duggan. I also particularly want to thank Mayor Tom Barrett and our children's Wisconsin CEO, Peggy Troy for the warm welcome that they've given us here today. And perhaps most important, let me just take a moment here to acknowledge the tragedy last month and Walker shot. I know that so many in this room, continue to feel the pain and the trauma that resulted from this act of violence. I know that you feel it is survivors and witnesses. To this terrible act. You feel it, his family members, his friends, his neighbors. You feel it. It's the people who cared for many of these children, right here in this hospital. I particularly want to thank the hospital staff here for the role that you played in responding to this tragedy. Whether you're a doctor, a nurse, a technician, a therapist or receptionist or the maintenance staff, you were part of a critical team that helped support families in some of the most difficult and terrifying moments that anyone can experience. I want you to know that our nation is so grateful for you. We have not forgotten about you. We will not forget about you. And you will remain in our minds and our hearts as you continue to process to heal and to grieve. Today I want to talk about another challenge that our community is facing. And that's COVID-19. And I particularly want to talk about our kids and COVID-19 Because I know that all of us here believe that we have a sacred responsibility to protect our children during the COVID 19 pandemic. One of the most challenging questions for parents, parents like me, and like many of you, has been how do we protect our children and that's why the recent FDA authorizations of a vaccine for kids five through 11 was such a big deal. Today what we want to convey to parents clearly is that this vaccine will help protect our children and our communities from COVID-19 Because we know two critical things about the vaccine, number one, it works and number two, it has a strong safety profile. This vaccine was tailored for children. The dose is lower about a third of the adult dose. It also went through clinical trials specific for kids five through 11. And after a careful rigorous review of the data by independent scientists, the authorization was an issue. It's important that people know that in the review that the FDA conducted they follow the same high standards that apply to all vaccines. There were no corners cut. And here's what they found is that the side effects is a trial including fatigue headaches. Occasionally a fever, but the side effects lasted for a day or two, leaving our kids with protection against COVID-19. Very importantly, they saw no serious adverse effects. Now what about the effectiveness of this vaccine? Well, in their trials of vaccines were more than 90% effective at preventing our children from developing symptomatic COVID-19. As far as vaccines go, and I say this as a doctor has prescribed many vaccines over the years. This is a very strong result. So all of this together has been very reassuring. It's a reason that I took my five year old son to get vaccinated just a few weeks ago, is the reason why over 5 million kids have gotten vaccinated in the five to 11 age group already. And here's why this is so important because while our kids are less at risk of bad outcomes with COVID compared to older adults, we know that COVID is not harmless and children. No one knows that better than the staff of a children's hospital. During this pandemic, our country has sadly lost hundreds of children to COVID-19. We've had 1000s of kids hospitalized due to COVID and as we face the reality of another variant, the Omicron variant. Getting vaccinated has never been more important that we're still learning more about the mercon variants. But everything that we have seen so far with this variant and with other variants has reaffirmed to us that those who are vaccinated are much better off to those who are not vaccinated. The vaccines continue to afford us protection against the worst outcomes of COVID particularly hospitalization and death. In the end, this vaccine won't just keep our kids healthy and safe. It will also allow them to regain the parts of their lives that they've missed during this pandemic, schools, sports and art programs, visits with grandparents and cousins, the parts of life that bring joy, growth and meaning.
I want to end by just saying thank you again to all of you not just because of the work that you do each and every day in this hospital and care for kids with COVID. But because of the steps that you take every day to protect our kids and their families across the board several years ago, when my one year old daughter was hospitalized and needed emergency surgery. I saw the extraordinary lengths that children's hospitals go to in order to provide the best possible care for the children they serve. As I sat outside the operating room, waiting for my baby girl, and later as I held vigil by her bedside with my wife. We were blessed with the kindness and the compassion of hospital staff who sat with us and stayed by us recognizing that we were scared, anxious and worried. So when I say thank you, I really mean it from the bottom of my heart. I could not be more grateful what you do each and every day to ensure that every child and family get the care they need. In the end, I know these are challenging times. I know that the pain of recent events is still wrong. But our enduring source of hope and healing has always been our capacity to love, to love our families, to love our friends, to love our communities. That is what Scripture teaches us. That is what life teaches us. And that love has been the unmistakable bright spot in this hospital in this community over the last month. So he's very upset Saturdays and it's not with great pride that I introduce to you. A leader who has put his whole heart into getting the word out about COVID-19 vaccines vaccines for adults, vaccines for young people and now vaccines for kids. He's traveled all across the country, from Alabama to Arizona, from Illinois to Oregon from Kansas to Tennessee to speak with communities about the COVID vaccine and in doing so, he has inspired people, not just with honest information, but with his conviction and his dedication to serve. Please join me in welcoming my good friend. He dedicated father and husband our second gentleman of the United States. Mr. Doug
Thank you, Surgeon General Murthy. Thank you for stepping up to serve our country our great country not once but twice it's truly a remarkable person in those words. Just don't listen to them. It just shows you not only your heart but your character. Thank you so much. Our nation is really going to be forever grateful for your tireless work as we continue to navigate this unprecedented, unprecedented global pandemic. And in addition, you've always encouraged us to follow the science pushing back on all the misinformation that's out there debugging the misinformation and speaking truth. But as you can see, always doing it from the heart. And we will continue to do that. As long as this pandemic fazes us, we're going to continue to do that. And as the doctor said over the past year, I have traveled all around this country, with Dr. Biden and others in the administration, urging Americans to get the vaccine, they're safe, they're effective, they're free, they're available and they are saving lives. But I've also seen doctors and nurses and faith leaders and community organizers. I've seen barber shops, schools, stadiums, restaurants who've all been teaming up with hospitals such as this one and community clinics to bring vaccines directly to the people wherever they are bringing the vaccines to the people. And when I reflect back on this this year, in those efforts, and it's those people like the folks I've met here today and these incredible people here because that's what I think about. That's what drives me. And I'm just so grateful for everything that you're all doing here and all of you around the country who've been working so hard on this. You really are helping to save lives. You're helping to heal our country. And on a personal note on my dad also, first and foremost, and when we saw our kids ln Cole, get vaccinated it was really one of the biggest reliefs we have felt in a long, long time. And once they got their shots, I knew as a father as a parent that they were going to be okay. And now I feel even better because they just got their boosters. And so we're going to continue to encourage folks to not only get their shots, but when eligible gets your boosters. So on every parent like myself, every caretaker, every family to be able to breathe that same side relief that we have been able to breathe because these children got vaccinated and now boosting. So my message to parents is that if you need more information, talk to the people you trust. Talk to your doctor, your pediatrician, talk to the experts. The facts about these vaccines are out there. We must push back on disinformation and misinformation and get the actual facts out there. You can go to vaccines.gov and get your family vaccinated as soon as possible. It's that simple. And as soon as you're you're eligible, go ahead and get the booster. It's going to help you and your family and your entire community. Be safe because at the end of the day the only way we're going to get this pandemic behind us is if we all keep working together to continue to get the word about and now I have the honor of introducing somebody very special to me but our entire country who has been on the forefront, traveling sometimes two or three times a week all around the country to spread the word about vaccinations. Again, it's an honor to introduce my friend the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden.
Thank you Doug. But I also want to thank the Surgeon General for coming with us again today. And Mayor Barrett for welcoming, welcoming us to Milwaukee. And we're so excited to be here at Children's Wisconsin.
To the press to all of you. Thank you for coming out today and helping us spread the word about something that is so critical: vaccines. We're here in Milwaukee because the President, the Vice President, Doug and I, we care about this community, and we care about your families. And we want to make sure that everyone has the information that they need to stay safe.
So I want to speak to the moms and dads for just a moment. I feel like I should turn over to this way and address the moms and dads. You know when you became a parent, there's a moment that we all go through when you look at that little baby with eyes like saucers and the tiniest little fingers and you feel this overwhelming sense of love deep in your bones. And you also feel absolute terror because you know that this little fragile life is depending on you.
And from that moment on, you see dangers that you have never even noticed before. So we buy baby gates and we cover our electrical outlets. We wrestle them into car seats, no matter how much they complain. We make them eat their vegetables and we stuff them into winter coats and scarves until they can barely walk. And after bedtime when we're all exhausted from the day and sure that if we hear, "Can I have another glass of water?" one more time, we will descend into permanent madness. But we quietly close her bedroom door and feel this pang of gratitude knowing that all those dinner complaints and bedtime negotiations mean that everything is okay. That they're healthy and growing. And we are okay.
Parents we do absolutely everything we can to protect our kids. And in this pandemic, you did. You figured out how to support virtual learning while working your own job. And let me thank all of the nurses and other health care professionals here, whether you have kids or not for working so hard to keep us all healthy. You found ways to create online playdates and birthday parties. You chose to get yourselves vaccinated. It was hard at times, but you carried your family through this and you are doing an amazing job.
Now, I'm excited that you have another way to keep your family safe. A vaccine for children five and older. It's not just another way to protect your kids against COVID-19. It's the best way it's been thoroughly reviewed and rigorously tested. It's safe, it's free. And it's available for every child in this country. Five and up. The holidays are just around the corner and I know you all are busy. But as you stop or you're running errands, I hope that you'll get vaccinated and add that to your list. And not just for your kids. If you've got your last shot at least six months ago, you're eligible for a booster so make it a family event and get your booster as well. I promise it's easy to do. Just go like just said the vaccine stocked up and find a vaccine site near you. There's no gift that's greater than the gift of health. It's up to us to keep our family safe. And with these vaccines and boosters. We can So Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. God bless you get vaccinated. Thank you I will find. OUT point out that she's going to be interesting that she hadn't finished mentioned I didn't hear I hear she mentioned you got it I'm waiting. We're just gonna go with