On June 18, 2022, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention accredited COVID-19 vaccination for younger kids who’re at the least 6 months outdated. This implies roughly 20 million kids in america beneath 5 years are newly eligible for vaccination. With COVID-19 circumstances rising, many dad and mom are desirous to vaccinate their youngest youngsters. Grace Lee, affiliate chief medical officer for follow innovation and a pediatric infectious illnesses doctor, solutions regularly requested questions on vaccines for younger kids.
Why ought to my child or younger youngster obtain the COVID-19 vaccine?
For the reason that starting of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been over 2 million circumstances, 20,000 hospitalizations and 200 deaths on account of COVID-19 in kids beneath 5 years of age. The CDC recommends a COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 6 months and older. Stanford Youngsters’s Well being encourages all households to have eligible kids vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Scientific proof has proven that the kids who obtained COVID-19 vaccines throughout testing developed excessive ranges of virus-fighting antibodies anticipated to guard them in opposition to coronavirus. Vaccines proceed to be efficient at stopping extreme sickness and hospitalization, together with in kids with and with none underlying medical situations.
COVID-19 vaccines may stop multisystem inflammatory syndrome in kids and should stop lengthy COVID, which could be debilitating for younger kids. Vaccines can defend kids, which in flip can cut back the chance of transmission to others.
What makes this vaccine totally different from the others administered to youngsters 5 years and older?
The one COVID-19 vaccine presently accessible for kids older than 5 years within the U.S. is the Pfizer BioNTech mRNA vaccine. For youngsters beneath 5, we now have two vaccines accessible. The three-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could be given to kids 6 months to 4 years of age at a 3-microgram dosage. The 2-dose Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is advisable for kids ages 6 months to five years at a dose of 25 micrograms. These doses had been rigorously chosen to make sure the vaccine was properly tolerated in younger kids.
What number of doses of vaccine are wanted, and on what schedule?
In case your youngster receives the Pfizer vaccine, it’s a three-dose vaccine sequence: the second three to eight weeks after the primary dose, and the third dose greater than eight weeks after the second.
For the Moderna vaccine, it’s a two-dose vaccine sequence: the second 4 to eight weeks after the primary.
Youngsters who’re reasonably or severely immunocompromised may have further doses, as with immunocompromised teenagers and adults.
How lengthy does it take for the pictures to take full impact?
A toddler could be thought of absolutely immunized two weeks after the third dose of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine or two weeks after the second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Youngsters who’re reasonably or severely immunocompromised are thought of absolutely vaccinated two weeks after the ultimate dose within the major sequence.
https://med.stanford.edu/information/all-news/2022/06/cdc-covid-vaccine-children.html