Hi, my name is Dr. Caitlin MacMillen. I'm an assistant clinical professor at UC San
Diego Health in the Department of Family Medicine. I take care of kids, adults and
elderly patients here and I'm here to talk to you guys about the COVID vaccine in children.
Why should I vaccinate my child against COVID-19?
Since the onset of the pandemic, 6.5 million children have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
It's currently the ninth leading cause of death in children 5 to 11 years old.
Widespread vaccination to COVID-19 is an important tool for everyone,
especially for those, both kids and adults, who are at highest risk.
While COVID-19 tends to be more mild in children compared to adults and adolescents,
COVID-19 infection can still make kids really sick,
put them in the hospital, have them have long-term health complications,
and some of those complications can even put kids at risk of death from COVID-19.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe?
Yes, it is safe, and it is well-tolerated. It was studied
in tens of thousands of people before being available to patients. It's been given to over 400 million
adolescents and adults, and for kids from 5 to 11 years old the dose size is one-third of the
adult dose, and that was carefully selected so that it is safe, well-tolerated and develops a
really good immune response in children.
Can vaccinated people still get COVID-19?
While the COVID-19 vaccines are working very well, adults and kids can still
get sick after being vaccinated. This is called a vaccination breakthrough case.
In the clinical trials of kids 5 to 11, the vaccines were over 90 percent effective in reducing
symptomatic and severe COVID-19. In fact, in the clinical trials, no children had severe COVID-19,
and the vaccine proved to be effective against delta and other variants.
Which COVID-19 vaccine is best for children?
For children ages 5 to 11, the only COVID-19
vaccine that is currently available is the Pfizer vaccine. It's a two-dose series that's separated
by three weeks. Each dose is exactly one-third the dose of the adolescent and adult vaccine.
Should I be concerned about my child having a serious allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine?
Serious allergic reactions, called anaphylaxis, can happen to any vaccination,
including the COVID-19 vaccine. Anaphylaxis has occurred in about two to five (people) per million
vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine. Please make sure you review any allergies that your child may
have with their primary health care provider.
What side effects can a child expect from getting the vaccine?
Like adolescents and adults, children do experience mild side effects once they get the immunization.
In the arm where they get the vaccine, they might feel redness, it might feel swollen or sore,
and then throughout the rest of their body they might feel tired, they might have headache,
feel fever or chills, or maybe even a little bit nauseated. But these symptoms last just a
couple of days. Most kids will have more symptoms after the second dose compared to the first dose.
One of the rare side effects of the vaccine to talk about is inflammation of the heart muscle,
which is also called myocarditis. It's estimated this is only going to happen in about 26 per 1
million kids that are vaccinated. It's more common to happen in young boys. Symptoms will come on in
about a week after they get vaccinated, and most symptoms in clinical trials were gone within about
a month. There was no long-term permanent damage from having myocarditis, and no one died from it,
from the vaccine. And it's important to note myocarditis from the COVID-19 vaccine is much
more mild compared to myocarditis from COVID-19 infection.
Are there ways to reduce side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine?
In general, aspirin is not recommended for kids under the age of 18.
Please talk to your child's primary health care provider about non-aspirin-based options,
things like ibuprofen or acetaminophen for symptom relief.
If my children already had COVID-19, should I get them vaccinated?
Yes, and this is an important point to review. Kids and adults develop what's called
natural immunity when they get COVID-19 infection, but this immunity is not as robust
or consistent compared to the immunity that they get
from the vaccine. The natural immunity that people get will decline more quickly and so people have a
higher risk of developing infection at subsequent exposures.
How long does it take for the COVID-19 vaccine to work?
It typically takes about two weeks for the COVID-19 vaccine to take effect.
For the two-dose MRNA vaccine series, this means two weeks after the second dose.
Until that time, we recommend kids continue to take precautions, things like wearing a mask,
avoiding really crowded spaces, washing their hands and
covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze.
Does my child need a second dose of the vaccine?
The answer is yes. With the MRNA vaccines, including the current Pfizer vaccine,
it's recommended that children have two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Can my child transmit COVID-19 to others after being vaccinated?
Kids who get the COVID-19 vaccine unfortunately still can transmit COVID. However it's important
to note that kids who are vaccinated have a lower what's called viral load. So their
transmissibility, meaning the risk that they have to transmit it to others, is lower compared
to unvaccinated kids.
Can my child get the flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine on the same day?
Yes, your kid can get both vaccines on the same day.
Where can my child receive the COVID-19 vaccine?
UC San Diego Health has multiple options for getting your kid the COVID-19 vaccine.
Please make sure you contact your kid's primary health care provider on those options.
People can also find vaccine opportunities within their community
on a website called vaccinefinder.org.
Who should I speak with if I still have concerns?
Please contact your child's primary health care provider about any concerns
you might have regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Other options are to look at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
also known as the CDC, or websites supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the
American Academy of Family Physicians.
We know these can be really scary and uncertain times and we're really
happy to have these conversations with you and your kid
about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine,
so we can all get through this pandemic together.