Children COVID-19 Vaccination – Questions & Answers

Help Protect Your Child, Your Family, and Others

Why Children and Teens Should Get Vaccinated for COVID-19

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine can help protect children ages 5 years and older from getting COVID-19.

• Vaccinating children can help protect family members, including siblings who are not eligible for vaccination and family members who may be at increased risk of getting very sick if they are infected.
• Vaccination can also help keep children from getting seriously sick even if they do get COVID-19.
• Vaccinating children ages 5 years and older can help keep them in school and help them safely participate in sports, playdates, and other group activities.
• Help protect your whole family and slow the spread of COVID-19 in your community by getting yourself and your children ages 5 years and older vaccinated against COVID-19.

Although children are at a lower risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19 compared with adults, children can:

• Be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19
• Get very sick from COVID-19
• Have both short and long-term health complications from COVID-19
• Spread COVID-19 to others

Children with underlying medical conditions are more at risk for severe illness from COVID-19 compared with children without underlying medical conditions. Children who get infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can also develop serious complications like multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)—a condition where different body parts become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.

After Your Child’s COVID-19 Vaccination (Possible side effects)

Your child may have some side effects, which are normal signs that their body is building protection.

On the arm where your child got the shot:

• Pain
• Redness
• Swelling

Throughout the rest of their body:

• Tiredness
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Nausea

These side effects may affect your child’s ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects and severe allergic reactions are rare. If your child experiences a severe allergic reaction after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine providers can rapidly provide care and call for emergency medical services, if needed.

Ask your child’s healthcare provider for advice on using a non-aspirin pain reliever and other steps you can take at home after your child gets vaccinated. In general, aspirin is not recommended for use in children and adolescents less than 18 years of age. Placing a cool, damp cloth on the injection site can help with discomfort.

 

COVID-19 Vaccine Dosage and Administration for Children and Teens

The pediatric vaccine already is being shipped around the country. Vaccine providers must use the pediatric vaccine formulation with orange caps and labels. Children ages 5-11 years will be vaccinated with two 10-microgram doses administered 21 days apart. The dosage is one-third of the adolescent and adult dose.

Dosages are determined by age, not a child’s size or weight. Some children may be 11 years old when they get their first dose and 12 at the time o their second dose. They should receive a dose based on their age on the day of vaccination, according to the CDC.

The COVID-19 vaccine can be given at the same time as other routine vaccines but should be done in a different injection site. The CDC and AAP also recommend children with prior COVID-19 infection get vaccinated. This includes children who have a history of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) if they meet several criteria including clinical recovery, at least 90 days have passed since their diagnosis, onset of MIS-C occurred before COVID-19 vaccination and they are in an area of high or substantial community transmission or otherwise have increased risk for exposure to the virus. Even if they don’t meet all the criteria post-MIS-C, the CDC said vaccination may be considered.

Vaccine trial date on efficacy & safety

Clinical trial in children ages 5-11 years found the vaccine to be 90.7% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. The vaccine also met immunobridging success criteria for geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers and seroresponse rates.

Safety data from the trial which included more than 3,000 children who received the vaccine, found the most common reactions were pain at the injection site, fatigue and headache. Reactions were mostly mild or moderate. There were no serious adverse events related to the vaccine, including anaphylaxis or myocarditis, although the latter likely was too rare for detection in a trial of that size.

The occasional cases of myocarditis that have been reported after an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine have been predominantly in males ages 12-29 years. The CDC noted baseline rates unrelated to the vaccination are much lower in children ages 5-11 than in older children, so the same may be true of vaccine-associated cases. Studies also have found the risk of myocarditis is greater from COVID-19 infection than from vaccination.

“I think the data supports that we have one more vaccine that saves lives of children and that we should be very confident to employ it to the maximum to do what is meant to do without significant concerns of serious adverse events,: said ACIP member Sarah S. Long, M.D., FAAP, professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Many members said their adolescent and adult family members have been vaccinated and if they had children or grandchildren in this age group, they would not hesitate to get them vaccinated.

Due to COVID-19, we are seeing a higher than normal demand for our services. We ask that you remain patient as we do our best to accommodate the healthcare needs of the community during this difficult time. Please know that our staff remains committed to meeting your needs as quickly and completely as possible.

Please visit our Facebook page for regular updates on what we’re battling COVID-19, and how you can support us in our effort.

Be aware and informed