Plum Health Physicians Strongly Recommend COVID 19 Vaccination for Children 5 to 11 Years of Age
Plum Health Physicians Strongly Recommend COVID 19 Vaccination for Children 5 to 11 Years of Age
Today, I got a great question from someone on LinkedIn about the coronavirus vaccination for children. Here’s what they asked:
Hey Paul, wondering if you can point me in the direction of a good resource to cut through all the noise about COVID vaccines for kids 5-11. Weighing the decision to get the shot for my 7 year old daughter now or to hold off for a bit until even more data exists on outcomes post clinical trials. I looked to see if you had anything posted but didn’t come across anything. Thanks in advance!
This is a great question.
The CDC recommends everyone 5 years and older get the COVID-19 vaccine. I attached a link which states that the Pfizer vaccine is good for children 5-11 years. This is a 2 dose series 21 days apart. Vaccination helps children from getting severely sick. Vaccination also helps kids participate in activities - like after school enrichment programs and team sports. Vaccination for children also protects family members, especially older family members or family members with conditions that compromise their immune system.
Before getting approval this vaccine moved through different clinical trials and is now FDA approved. In each phase, the vaccine was tested in a large group of people to test for safety and efficacy. The Phase 2 and 3 trial revealed that the Pfizer vaccine had a good safety profile and protection in children 5 to 11. The Phase 1, 2, and 3 trial had 4,500 children 6 months to 11 years. Among these children, reactions were mostly mild to moderate. The side effects of the vaccine could be pain, redness, and fatigue. There were no cases of myocarditis in these trials, and these cases of myocarditis have been extremely rare in the real world setting.
The composition of the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. The Pfizer vaccine contains messenger RNA which tells the cells to create an immune response to COVID-19. Children 5 through 11 do not get the Pfizer vaccine given to teens and adults. They receive an age-appropriate dose that is one-third the adult dose.
Here is a great link from the CDC which explains the vaccine. There is also a video that describes mRNA vaccine:
This is a good publication that briefly describes the work that was done to develop the vaccine:
https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/17751?autologincheck=redirected
Where can you get coronavirus testing and vaccines in Detroit?
At Plum Health DPC, we have been vaccinating adults and children as soon as the appropriate vaccine doses became available for us. We’ve also been testing our patients for COVID to help them travel and stay healthy if they’ve experienced a recent exposure or symptoms concerning for COVID. Our office is in Corktown, Detroit at Michigan and Trumbull. You can get services or more information by calling 313.444.5630.
Thanks for reading,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC