{"id":43720,"date":"2021-11-16T14:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T21:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/children-and-the-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T21:18:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T21:18:00","slug":"children-and-the-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/children-and-the-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Children and the vaccine: what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"James
James Marshall, 5, pulls down his sleeve as his mother, Kristen, rear, looks on with her three-month-old daughter, Elizabeth, in a carriage after James received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 at a state-run site in Cranston, R.I., Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021.<\/span>David Goldman\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

This week federal regulators approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.<\/p>\n

For months, COVID-19 cases in children have been on the rise. In August and September, cases climbed 400 percent. According to the state, there\u2019s a one in four chance of being exposed to the virus by a child at home.<\/p>\n

The number of children hospitalized also increased. Colorado is one of the worst COVID-19 hotspots in the country, with medical facilities nearing capacity. Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent the spread of coronavirus and getting children vaccinated is part of the solution to Colorado\u2019s high transmission.<\/p>\n

Dr. Samuel Dominguez is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado and an associate professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine. He talked to CPR about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children.<\/p>\n

Is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine safe for children ages 5-11?<\/div>\n

According to Dominguez, the short answer is yes. When determining the safety of a vaccine, drug makers do extensive studies and enroll people in trials to test how well the vaccine works and whether it has any side effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that people are nervous and it\u2019s OK to be nervous with anything new. There\u2019s always questions, and it\u2019s good to ask questions. It\u2019s good to be concerned,\u201d Dominguez said. \u201cOverall vaccines, in general, are the most studied and regulated of all medications that we use.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of the Pfizer vaccine, it\u2019s already been administered to more than 192 million people in the U.S., which provides evidence for its safety in children. But Dominguez pointed out that kids are not just little adults, their reaction to diseases is different.<\/p>\n

In a trial of more than 3,000 children ages 5 to 11, no serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study. Adverse effects are monitored by local, state and federal agencies. Like in the case of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine pause, regulators are looking for any signs of a problem and will report those to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that should be reassuring to people,\u201d Dominguez said. \u201cWe found those very quickly and were able to get that data and make changes appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about side effects, like myocarditis, in children from the vaccine?<\/div>\n

Each year globally about 10 to 20 people out of every 100,000 develop myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle. The rare condition was detected in some adolescents after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, but experts say COVID-19 is much more likely to cause lasting heart damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now we\u2019re seeing lots of kids, unfortunately, being hospitalized and in our ICU with COVID,\u201d Dominguez said. \u201cEven though COVID overall is a much more mild disease in children, there are a subset of kids who can get sick enough to be in the hospital. And so in terms of the risk-benefit analysis, from what we know so far the benefits in my opinion, far outweigh the risks, in terms of thinking about vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the start of the pandemic, tens of thousands of children nationally have been hospitalized with COVID, and 657 have died, according to data collected by the CDC.<\/p>\n

How effective is the vaccine for children?<\/div>\n

Children showed comparable immune responses to people ages 16 to 25. The vaccine was found to be 90.7 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in the 5 to 11 age group. Children, like adults, could still get breakthrough cases. If community transmission is high in your area, you should take necessary precautions to prevent an infection like wearing a face covering and avoiding crowded indoor spaces.<\/p>\n

Does my kid get the same shot as an adult?<\/div>\n

The Pfizer vaccine for children in this age category is formulated differently for children. It\u2019s a smaller dose, but the child will still receive two doses a few weeks apart. They\u2019re fully protected two weeks after the second dose.<\/p>\n

Why is it important to get my children vaccinated against COVID-19?<\/div>\n

Vaccination against COVID-19 is important for individuals and for the community. Children getting the vaccine makes them less susceptible to MIS-C or multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and long COVID.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids right now, nationwide, are 25 percent of all cases and the more kids we can get vaccinated, the more likely we are to stop those chains of transmission, which really results in fewer infections overall in the whole population and fewer hospitalizations and fewer deaths,\u201d Dominguez said. \u201cIt\u2019s us all doing our part to get us through this next phase of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where can my child get a COVID-19 vaccine?<\/div>\n

Pharmacies, health clinics and county-run vaccination events are all offering COVID-19 vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds. Check with your health care provider or county health department for more information.<\/p>\n

Colorado officials want to vaccinate roughly 480,000 Colorado children ages 5 to 11 with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 31.<\/p>\n

The pediatric vaccine campaign includes hundreds of clinic locations statewide, numerous partnerships, and a \u201crobust equity effort so that every child, no matter their background, has access to this vaccine,\u201d said Diana Herrero, Deputy Director of the Division of Disease Control and Public Health Response.<\/p>\n

What if my child already had COVID-19, do they need to get vaccinated?<\/div>\n

The immune response in vaccinated people is higher than in those who caught the virus. However, people who had COVID-19 and were vaccinated may have better immunity than those who were vaccinated but never sick with the virus. It\u2019s recommended that children be vaccinated against COVID-19 even if they had the virus in the past.<\/p>\n

Can children get the flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time?<\/div>\n

Yes, children can and should, according to Dominguez, get both the COVID-19 vaccine and the flu shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have just started to see the first few cases of influenza here in Colorado,\u201d Dominguez said. \u201cNot a lot of circulation yet, but we\u2019ve had a few cases already, so it\u2019s here. Definitely get your flu shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will my school or district mandate the vaccine?<\/div>\n

School districts across the state are determining their next steps now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in younger kids. So far, districts have not mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for students, but it\u2019s possible they could.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Colorado Matters in early November, Gov. Jared Polis didn\u2019t specify whether the state would push for school mandates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where it\u2019s going with regard to what different school districts will or won\u2019t require,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom our perspective at the state, and the epidemiological perspective, if we can reach 50 to 60 percent, that will make a major impact in reducing the transmission of the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state mandates what vaccines school-aged children are required to get. Changes to those laws would go through a process at the state level. Colorado allows vaccine exemptions that make it easier than many other states to forgo vaccinations before attending school, which has contributed to the state\u2019s low childhood vaccination rate even before the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 cases in children have been on the rise \u2013 up 400% in August and September<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29,445],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-newsletter-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43720"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}