On June 17, the FDA authorized COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech for children as young as 6 months. These shots are available at UCLA Health.
The two Moderna doses are given a month apart, while Pfizer’s three-dose series is administered over 11 weeks (the first two are given three weeks apart, followed by a third eight weeks later). In both cases, a child is fully immunized two weeks after the final dose.
Though the side effects for young children can include injection-site pain, fever, headache, irritability and loss of appetite, UCLA Health pediatrician and co-chief infection prevention officer Annabelle de St. Maurice, MD, MPH, says, “both vaccines have been shown to be highly effective and safe.”
Dr. de St. Maurice says she plans to have her 6-month-old daughter vaccinated immediately. She also recognizes the potential future need for boosters.
“Some of the data from ongoing studies in older pediatric age groups have demonstrated that kids will likely need boosters,” she says. But if the vaccines are found to not offer sufficient protection against new variants, “booster doses may be needed sooner rather than later.”
Have questions about the new COVID-19 vaccines for young kids? We have the answers
For more information about vaccinating your children against Covid, contact:
UCLA Health Burbank Pediatrics
2625 W. Alameda Ave. | Suite 300
Burbank, CA 91505 | 818-846-8252
uclahealth.org/locations/burbank-pediatrics
