The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approval of the Pfizer vaccine for young teens ages 12 to 15 could raise some questions and concerns for parents. NBC5 joined a conversation with Dr. Lee, UVM pediatric infectious disease doctor, for more on his thoughts following this discovery. “There’s an extraordinary amount of excitement throughout the pediatric community right now regarding this development,” Dr. Lee said. He says that people are more likely to follow any type of recommendations, if that information, comes from a trustworthy provider, and he wants members of the community not to be afraid to reach out to their local and family health care providers.“For these kids, think about all the things that they weren’t able to do this last year. All the things that were taken away from them because there was no way for them to feel protected for the ongoing pandemic,” Dr. Lee said. In order for the FDA to sign off on the vaccine, the pediatric infectious disease doctor says an evaluation of 2,200 kids ages 12 to 15 was submitted. “What was astounding that in the 12-15 age group, not a single vaccinated child got COVID-19 during the time of the study, compared to 18 in the placebo group. So, it’s absolutely clear that the vaccine works for 12-15-year-olds,” he said. According to the results in the trials, side-effects show to be similar of those in older age groups.Whether or not kids will need more than one shot is still unknown. “Anything we could say right now would really be speculation, given what we know about other respiratory viruses… I wouldn’t be surprised if we would end up needing boosters at some point., but how often that would need to be,” Dr. Lee said. Dr. Lee also notes that Johnson & Johnson or Moderna could catch up with approval for their vaccination in younger adults, however, he doesn’t recommend families wait for that to happen to get vaccinated. According to Dr. Lee, Pfizer trials have already begun, and we could be expecting another extension for children as young as the age of two by September.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approval of the Pfizer vaccine for young teens ages 12 to 15 could raise some questions and concerns for parents. NBC5 joined a conversation with Dr. Lee, UVM pediatric infectious disease doctor, for more on his thoughts following this discovery.
“There’s an extraordinary amount of excitement throughout the pediatric community right now regarding this development,” Dr. Lee said.
He says that people are more likely to follow any type of recommendations, if that information, comes from a trustworthy provider, and he wants members of the community not to be afraid to reach out to their local and family health care providers.
“For these kids, think about all the things that they weren’t able to do this last year. All the things that were taken away from them because there was no way for them to feel protected for the ongoing pandemic,” Dr. Lee said.
In order for the FDA to sign off on the vaccine, the pediatric infectious disease doctor says an evaluation of 2,200 kids ages 12 to 15 was submitted.
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“What was astounding that in the 12-15 age group, not a single vaccinated child got COVID-19 during the time of the study, compared to 18 in the placebo group. So, it’s absolutely clear that the vaccine works for 12-15-year-olds,” he said.
According to the results in the trials, side-effects show to be similar of those in older age groups.
Whether or not kids will need more than one shot is still unknown. “Anything we could say right now would really be speculation, given what we know about other respiratory viruses… I wouldn’t be surprised if we would end up needing boosters at some point., but how often that would need to be,” Dr. Lee said.
Dr. Lee also notes that Johnson & Johnson or Moderna could catch up with approval for their vaccination in younger adults, however, he doesn’t recommend families wait for that to happen to get vaccinated. According to Dr. Lee, Pfizer trials have already begun, and we could be expecting another extension for children as young as the age of two by September.
