(WSYM) — Children aged 12 to 15 may soon be eligible to get a COVID-19 shot.
Pfizer’s vaccine for this age group is expected to be approved by the FDA as early as this week.
If Pfizer gets the green light from the FDA, then it’s a possibility that kids aged 12 to 15 could start getting vaccinated later this month. Definitely over the summer, well before the new school year starts - which would be a big relief to many families. Anyone who’s a parent like myself knows how kids love to gather together. As we’ve seen here in Michigan, especially with young athletes, they can easily get infected and spread the virus. So, they’re a critical group to get vaccinated. This would also help us get one step closer to herd immunity.
I expect adolescents will be on a two-shot schedule, but the dosage amount might be different. Pfizer hasn’t released details yet. What I do know is that Pfizer’s clinical trials found its vaccine to be 100% effective in younger teens. Over 2,000 kids aged 12 to 15 took part. None of the kids who were fully vaccinated ended up infected with COVID.
That’s likely because the kid's immune systems produced strong antibodies. Now, as for your second question, since I’m a parent, I’m very familiar with how often kids get vaccines. Right now, the recommendation from the CDC for adults is to get COVID vaccines alone, and not at the same time as other vaccines. They’d like people to wait 14 days before or after. And here’s the reason why. There’s just not enough data right now looking at the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines administered with other vaccines. So I’m assuming the CDC will recommend the same for kids. Now, I can see how this might be off-putting to parents.
It’s one more thing we have to think about. I’ve heard that COVID shots for this age group will also likely be administered at pediatric practices. Pfizer is introducing a smaller vial pack size which would be more manageable for most doctor offices. That will definitely be a bonus for families.