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The rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 6 months old is underway and it’s on track to be a fast process.
On Tuesday, Pfizer took the first step to getting emergency authorization to have their shots put into babies as young as 6 months old. Dr. Rosemary Olivero, an infectious disease specialist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, said it’s expected to be about a one-month process.
“Children really are bearing the brunt of COVID-19 infections, even, in many areas, hospitalizations,” said Olivero.
One of the findings during clinical trials has put one question without answers out there: It was found that 2- to 4-year-olds who received the vaccine did not meet the study’s end points for immune response, but children ages ages 6 months to 2 years did.
“Even though a third dose of the vaccine might be needed eventually, and the data will come out to show us whether that will be beneficial or not, it’s still a very important step to get children who don’t have access to the vaccine yet, give them access to the vaccine so they can have at least some protection,” said Olivero.
Olivero pointed out just because the immune response for 2- to 4-year-olds didn’t meet the criteria, it doesn’t mean the antibodies they did receive don’t count.
“Any immune response, even if it didn’t meet the antibody cutoff, is far superior to having no antibodies,” Olivero said.
Another question: Will parents vaccinate their babies? State data shows only 25% of children ages 5 to 11 in Michigan are fully vaccinated.
As any parent knows, children ranging in age from 6 months to 4 years are at the pediatrician’s office more frequently, because of things like receiving their other childhood vaccines or a seasonal ear infection or runny nose. Olivero said it’s the perfect opportunity for parents to have frank face-to-face vaccine conversations with their child’s doctor.
“We are going to have to grapple with this virus over the years and decades to come,” said Olivero.
As we see COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations start to decline, Olivero says that may give some people false hope.
“If you talk to epidemiologists and infection disease specialists, our predictions, which we feel pretty darn certain about, is that COVID is indeed endemic now. Meaning that it’s going to be part of our normal circulating respiratory viruses year in, year out,” Olivero said.
She urges parents who have questions to talk to their pediatrician, because soon enough, the youngest among us will have their chance to get vaccinated.
“They should have access to these extremely important vaccines just as adults have been, because COVID can indeed be a very serious health condition for some children and adolescents,” she said.