Dr. Patricia Monroe (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — Dr. Patricia Monroe has cared for countless children in this region for the past 22 years. She’s never seen so many kids struggling with mental health issues as she has recently.

Monroe, speaking with reporters at a virtual press conference Tuesday, underscored the immense mental health impact the pandemic has had on local teens and children, and how the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine rollout has become a source of hope for many of them.

“I’ve seen a lot — amazingly a lot — of mental health issues in the past year,” she said. “More than I ever had in my 22 years as a pediatrician. What they see this as is a way to get back to being a normal teenager again. They’re really excited about doing that, and I’m really excited for them to do that, believe me.”

Monroe’s patients aren’t alone. A study by FAIR Health, a New York nonprofit group, found that, compared to 2019, mental health-related insurance claims for U.S. teens between the ages of 13 and 18 rose by 97% in March 2020, and by 103.5% in April 2020. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that although the number of children visiting the emergency room declined in 2020, a greater proportion of children’s visits were related to mental health. The proportion of mental health-related visits for children age 5 to 11 rose by 24% last year, and by 31% for children 12 to 17 years old. Emergency rooms are often the first point of care for children experiencing mental health emergencies, according to the CDC.

Because of the pandemic, for many months, teens and children were stuck at home — many of them stuck at home with their parents. Children had to learn remotely and spend less time with their friends in person. Some teens lost their opportunity to go to prom or participate in a traditional graduation ceremony, or experience many of the other rites of passage that those before them may have taken for granted. Monroe said that’s not how it’s supposed to be.

“Teenagers aren’t meant to spend all of their time with their parents,” she said.

Right now, those 12 and older can get the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved for the 12-to-15 age group earlier this month. For teens who live in this area, though, getting the Pfizer vaccine can mean having to drive to Potsdam or Plattsburgh to get inoculated at a state-run clinic.

Monroe’s office at the Hudson Headwaters practice in Saranac Lake has doses of the Moderna vaccine on hand, but right now it’s only authorized for use on adults. Her office can’t store the Pfizer vaccine because it comes in large batches and needs to be kept at a very low temperature.

Moderna announced on Tuesday that it planned to apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after it found its vaccine was safe and effective in children ages 12 to 17. Being able to offer the Moderna vaccine to her patients would be a “big improvement,” Monroe said. The Moderna vaccine doesn’t have to be kept at ultra-low temperatures, so pediatricians like her can keep doses on hand.

“It would be really helpful for me as a private pediatrician to be able to discuss these things with my patients and say, ‘Are you ready? Do you have any other questions or would you like to get your child vaccinated today?'” she said.

“I’m happy wherever my patients can get it,” Monroe added. “The county vaccinated more than 100 kids in the Saranac Lake school district here, which was very helpful. I know they did some in Tupper (Lake) as well.”

Easy access to the vaccine in the North Country is one thing, but there’s a portion of the population that remains hesitant about vaccines or is unwilling to get vaccinated. Monroe said she’s seen some of that among her patients, but more so among her patients’ parents.

“I think some of the adults have caused some hesitancy in some of my patients, for both good and bad reasons,” she said. “I’ve seen that a lot more.

“I have some patients whose parents are very hesitant to be vaccinated and may choose not to. They’re very respectful, listening to my discussion as to why it’s important to me. They did choose to have me be their pediatrician. I do think my opinion is a little bit important to them,” she added later. “I’m hoping that will help work through some of those issues as we get more information as a country and a community.”

Monroe touched on one aspect of vaccine hesitancy: concern that the vaccines were rushed into production.

“This entire year was a different experience, but this was science that’s been out there for a long time,” she said. “We were lucky it was ready for this kind of opportunity, and that these are safe and effective vaccines. They were not rushed through the process. They were available and ready at a much faster rate because of the resources that were put into the world in terms of making these vaccines. Most of these people have chosen to vaccinate their children for all of the other diseases that I’ve asked them to or recommended in the past. I try to bring that into the conversation.

“This is the same process done by a larger group of people with a lot more funding and motivation, if you will. But it’s the same process, and it’s a safe and effective process.”

Monroe ticked off a list of local doctors who all agreed that the vaccine was safe.

“I have not met another pediatrician who does not feel the same way I do,” she said.

Vaccines aren’t new, and vaccine hesitancy isn’t, either. Monroe said the pandemic has shown parents “what it’s like when we have a disease that’s running rampant that we do not have a vaccine against.

“If anything, it’s made some of these conversations easier with my patients,” she said. “They think this will make them be able to get back to their normal lives, and that’s what they’re most excited about.”