Carl O’Donnell and Michael Erman

NEW YORK, (Reuters) –A panel of experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will vote Tuesday whether they recommend a COVID-19 vaccination for children 5-11 years old. The vaccine was approved last week by U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This vaccine was developed by Pfizer Inc (NYSE 🙂 and BioNTech Se (NASDAQ 🙂 have been offered in the United States to children between 12 and 15.

This is all you need to know regarding vaccines and children.

What date will COVID-19 vaccinations become available to 5- and 11-year olds?

They will likely be ready for use by Wednesday. After Tuesday’s vote by the CDC advisory board, the director at CDC will determine whether vaccine should be given to children.

What are the best places to get shots?

It depends on where you live, there may be pharmacies or schools as well as pediatricians offices. To increase the access of shots for children, some states have also set up mobile clinics and mass vaccination centres.

Does it contain the same vaccination as the one for adults?

Yes. However, at a lower dose. Pfizer, BioNTech and others have requested authorization for a 10-microgram vaccine. This is a third dose that would be given to adults 12 years and over. Two doses of the vaccine are still required. They will be administered approximately every three weeks.

Is it okay to give my 5-year old a dose? Or should they get the full 11-year-old’s dosage? Do they need to get their doses?

Brittany Kmush is an epidemiologist at Syracuse University and a professor of medicine. The dosage depends on the patient’s age, not their weight. “Vaccines have a different dosing strategy than medications. This has more to do the maturation of the immune system than it does with weight and metabolism,” she explained.

It is it safe?

The safety data for more than 3000 children who were vaccinated in the 4,500-person clinical trial by Pfizer was comparable to those of 16-to-25-year-olds. Children experienced fever, headaches, and chills more often than 12- and 15-year olds.

Pfizer/BioNTech both Moderna (NASDAQ:) Inc vaccinations have been associated with rare forms of myocarditis or heart inflammation, especially among young men.

Pfizer stated that there is a lower rate of myocarditis among this age group than the 12- and 15-year olds who were vaccinated.

It works?

BioNTech and Pfizer said that their COVID-19 vaccine inducing strong immune responses in 5-year-olds to 11-year olds during clinical trials last month. In the same study, the vaccine also showed a 90.7% effectiveness against COVID-19.

Why bother with vaccinating children if they are less likely than adults to become seriously ill due COVID?

The public health tool of pediatric vaccination to protect children from infectious diseases is vital. The United States provides vaccines to children for diseases that are similar in severity or mortality rates in children, such as hepatitis A and chickenpox. Even if the child does not show symptoms, they can transmit COVID-19 to children from other high-risk populations.