Hospital hosting pediatric COVID-19 vaccine clinics
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved pediatric COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 years old.
The Pfizer vaccine is approved for children age 6 months through 4 years old, and the Moderna vaccine covers children age 6 months through 5 years.
Dr. John Love, executive director of clinical safety and infectious disease at Butler Health System, said the pediatric vaccine from both companies are similar to their adult versions, but with a smaller dosage.
“Adults if they get the Pfizer vaccine are getting 50 micrograms of the dose,” Love said. “Children, on the other hand, will get three micrograms in doses.”
Butler Memorial Hospital has two clinics scheduled to distribute pediatric vaccines; one Saturday and one July 30. Both take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Butler Health System’s chief nursing officer Karen Allen said the clinics have been scheduled so staff can distribute vaccines most efficiently.
“We think it's safer to only offer one dose of the vaccine, the pediatric, because there are different doses for different age groups, so we kept the adult ones separate,” Allen said. “There's four hours, and we can fit in 120 people an hour. We doubt we'll get that many, but if we need to add more dates we will.”
Like the original adult vaccine, the pediatric vaccines also come in several doses, which are scheduled to be taken four weeks apart. Allen said the second dose clinic for those being vaccinated Thursday is scheduled for Aug. 6, and the second dose clinic for the July 30 group is Aug. 27.
“We scheduled it the way we did so if they miss the second dose they can come to the second clinic,” Allen said. “It should be four weeks, but if it's a little longer than four weeks that's OK.”
Love said the gap between the federal approval of the initial COVID-19 vaccines and the pediatric vaccine is so large because developing pediatric medicine is more difficult in general. He also said children may experience similar side effects from the vaccine that adults see in the hours following its administration, including aches and some flu-like symptoms.
“In general, studies on pediatrics are difficult,” Love said. “It’s hard to study, it’s hard to recruit, their immune systems work so differently than adults.’”
He also said that this approval is another step in the right direction in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and more deaths from the disease’s symptoms.
“Is this going to be the final nail in the coffin for getting rid of COVID? No,” Love said. “It’s going to help individual children from getting severe symptoms. It’s about getting these small wins, getting people protected incrimentally.”
Allen said the staff of the clinics try to make the vaccination process as efficient and easy as possible.
“The people who work in the clinic, they really do have it down to a smooth process,” Allen said. “We get so much feedback on how efficient and friendly the clinic is.”
Love said parents may have concerns about the pediatric vaccine, but their doctors may offer the best advice on when to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19.
“Parents are going to have a lot of questions, and they should have conversations with their pediatrician, their doctor with those questions,” he said. “They should get the information from someone who knows their children. It may take time for them to be comfortable with this.”
For more information on the vaccine clinics, and to make an appointment, visit butlerhealthsystem.org.
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