The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5–11 years on October 29, 2021. According to a recent survey by KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, just over one-quarter of parents of children in this age group are eager for their child to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
Two-thirds of parents of children of this age said that they were worried that the COVID-19 vaccine would affect their children’s future fertility.
Vaccine hesitancy is not just over fear of impact on fertility. Over three-quarters of parents reported that they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned that their child might experience serious side effects or that not enough is known about long-term effects from the COVID-19 vaccine.
So, what are the possible side effects?
What are children going to get?
In the same way that pharmaceutical companies raced to get the vaccine approved for adults, those companies have carried out trials to see if their vaccines are safe and effective in adolescents and children.
So far, mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have received approval in the US for children over 12 years of age, with the Pfizer vaccine approved for 5–12-year-olds at the end of October 2021.
Most countries offering vaccination to those over 12 years of age are offering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, Reuters recently reported. A single dose of the Pfizer vaccine is available for those over 12 years old in the UK, where the Moderna vaccine also has approval for this age group.
Pfizer has plans to trial the vaccine in children aged 6 months to 5 years, and Moderna has ongoing trials to test the safety and efficacy of vaccines in children under 12 years old.
Novavax is about to start a study of up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12–17 years across up to 75 sites in the United States Johnson & Johnson has enrolled children as young as 12 years into existing trials, and AstraZeneca is planning on conducting trials of its vaccine in children as young as 6 years.
The vaccine with the most evidence to support its use so far is Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19.
However, the vaccine doses given to children over and under the age of 12 years differ. Pfizer released data of tests from phase 2 and 3 trials at the end of September 2021. The data suggest that the vaccine was safe in children aged 5–11 years.
Children under the age of 12, will be offered 10 micrograms (mcg) of the vaccine. This is compared with 30 mcg of vaccine, which is the amount given to children over the age of 12 and adults. Experts hope that the lower dose could result in fewer side effects.
The most common side effects in children after their second dose of the vaccine — first dose reactions were less frequent — were fatigue and headache, with 39.4% and 28% of 5–12-year-olds experiencing those symptoms, respectively.
This is compared with 65% and 60.9% of adults Of note where data showing that fever and chills experienced after the vaccine were lower among 5–12-year-olds than among 12–65-year-olds.
Just 7% of children aged 5–12 years experienced fever after vaccination, compared with 17.2% of those over 12 years. Also, just 10% of those aged 5–12 years experienced chills, compared with 40% of those over 12 years.
You must be logged in to post a comment.