The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have carefully reviewed data from clinical trials for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. Based on data from several thousand children who participated in clinical trials, FDA has expanded emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 and older, and CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommend that all children and adolescents ages 5 and older get vaccinated — and a booster shot — as soon as possible.
1. How do these vaccines work?
- Vaccines save lives. These vaccines teach our children’s immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19 without having to get sick or put others at risk of severe illness and death.
- The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine requires two shots, administered at least 3 weeks (21 days) apart. It will take 2 weeks after receiving the second vaccine dose for your child to be fully vaccinated and ready to fight the virus if they are exposed.
- Children ages 5 to 11 receive a lower dose (10 micrograms) than individuals 12 and older (30 micrograms).
- Sometimes, vaccines can cause minor side effects, such as body aches, mild fever, or reduced energy. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity.
- Getting your child vaccinated is a much safer way for them to build protection than getting COVID-19, considering that the virus has caused serious illness, complications, and even death in some children and teens. Unvaccinated children with underlying health conditions may be more likely to become severely ill if they are exposed to COVID-19.
- Your child may receive a COVID-19 vaccine and other routine immunizations, including the flu shot, at the same visit.
- Your child can’t get COVID-19 from any COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines have no effects on hormones or puberty, and they won’t prevent your children from having their own children.
2. Why should my child get vaccinated?
- More than 13.5 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic. COVID-19 has caused serious illness, complications, and even death in hundreds of children and teens. Children with underlying health conditions may be more likely to become severely ill.
- Children have been getting infected and transmitting the virus as easily as adults while the Delta variant has been predominant.
- While most children with COVID-19 have mild or no symptoms, they can still spread the disease to others.
- Being vaccinated will allow kids to get back to, and hold onto, the things they have missed: consistent in-person learning, playing with friends, and participating in sports and enrichment activities.
- Vaccinated children have a very low risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to others. This adds a layer of protection for unvaccinated individuals around them, including siblings who are still too young to get vaccinated.
- Vaccinating children will lower the overall infection rate among the general population, decreasing the chance that the coronavirus will mutate into even more dangerous variants.
- COVID-19 vaccines also reduce the risk of MIS-C, a serious condition of multisystem inflammation that has affected over 8,000 children in the United States during the pandemic, including 68 children whose deaths were associated with MIS-C.
Public health guidance on COVID-19 is constantly evolving. Health Action Alliance is committed to regularly updating our materials once we've engaged public health, business and communications experts about the implications of new guidance from the public health community and effective business strategies that align with public health goals. Together, we can turn the tide against COVID-19 and build a stronger, healthier future.
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