Vaccinating our littles: my thoughts
I’ve received numerous questions from parents about the recent unanimous FDA/CDC votes in favor of recommending vaccination against COVID-19 for children 6 months and up.
Here are some answers to the most common questions, along with my thoughts and decisions for my own kids.
PC: Colin Maynard (Unsplash.com)
An overview
Both vaccines are effective, and the FDA and CDC/ACIP voted unanimously that the benefits of vaccination outweighed any concerns or risks for children 6 months and up.
Moderna
2 dose series (25 mcg per dose) given 4 weeks apart
This was an immune-bridging trial, which means that a specific target antibody was chosen (based on the antibody level known to be protective in adults).
The end-point/goal was to achieve these target antibody levels — this is considered indicative of protection.
A secondary end-point is the prevention of symptomatic infection.
Vaccine effectiveness was:
51% in kids 6-23 months (2350 participants)
37% in kids 2-5 years (4038 participants)
The most common side effects were fussiness, fever, injection site pain, fatigue and headache. All resolved within a few days. There were no serious side effects or red flags, including no cases of myocarditis. There was one case of high fever and febrile seizure after the first dose, but the same child tolerated a second dose without any reaction.
Pfizer
3 dose series (3 mcg per dose); 3 weeks between dose 1 and 2, and 8 weeks between dose 2 and 3
This was also an immune-bridging trial, which means that a specific target antibody was chosen (based on the antibody level known to be protective in adults).
The end-point/goal was to achieve these target antibody levels — this is considered indicative of protection.
Vaccine effectiveness in terms of preventing symptomatic infection, though, was:
77% in kids 6-23 months (570 participants)
83% in kids 2-4 years (885 participants); remember, 5 year olds have already been approved to receive Pfizer.
These numbers are likely inaccurate, because of low case numbers; they will probably change.
Also, participant numbers seem low - this is because, as you probably recall, Pfizer had to go back to the drawing board several months ago and add a third dose after they discovered their 2-dose series did not meet criteria. There were fewer participants that completed a third dose.
The most common side effects were fussiness, fever, injection site pain, fatigue and headache. All resolved within a few days and in general were milder than those for Moderna (likely due to lower dose). There were no serious side effects or red flags, including no cases of myocarditis.
The bottom line
Both vaccines are effective for infants and toddlers. And both are safe. Either would be okay, and experts recommend going with whichever is most accessible to you. At the end of the day, getting your child vaccinated is the priority.
The Pediatrician Mom Promise: At TPM, I will never blindly recommend an intervention unless I am comfortable making the same decision for my own kids. I really believe that parents deserve all the information, and to know that any person making recommendations has their kids’ best interests at heart.
With that said: Now that I’ve seen the data, my young kids will be getting a Covid vaccine (my 7 year old has already received hers, including the booster). IF I have a choice, I will pick Moderna even though the side effects may be slightly worse. I share why, along with answers to your FAQs, below.
Relief? Maybe so!
I hope that this information has been of help to you. Figuring out what is accurate, and separating fact from false information is an exhausting task, and I hope that this information answers some of your questions.
In terms of where to get the vaccine, I’m still working on figuring this out. I’ll share on my instagram profile once I have more information. Some pediatrician offices do have it, but not all — and some pharmacies do have it, but won’t vaccinate kids under age 3. Yet another fun challenge for parents to face.
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