AUSTIN, Texas — Following the final signoff for the pediatric doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, KVUE spoke with Dr. Goddy Corpuz, a Baylor Scott & White pediatrician, about what parents may be concerned about.
Q: What do you think are the top things that parents need to know ahead of scheduling their children's vaccine appointments?
"I think the worries more now are what are the side effects? And it will be the same things like we do with normal ones – the potential for low-grade fever, headaches, body aches, pain at the side of injection and the risk for myocarditis, which there were no evidence of myocarditis with the pediatric doses. And the side effects were very minimal, and it resolved in one or two days. So most – a lot of kids did fine."
Q: Specifically, were there any long-term side effects with kids?
"There were no long-term side effects detected and actually a majority of the kids did fine ... most of the kids in the study actually did fine. So only a small majority experienced minimal side effects and all resolved within a couple of days."
Q: What's your response to parents who are concerned, saying there's only been a short amount of time spent studying the COVID vaccine on kids?
"Actually, I wouldn't call it a short amount of time this past few months. We've been vaccinating adults, and even adolescents, for about a year now, and we started studying these kids, over 2,000 of them, for over six months and before they released this data. And it's been pretty good. 91% against symptomatic infection."
Q: Can kids get the flu shot at the same time as their COVID-19 vaccine?
"No, no need to space it out. They can be given on the same day or even days apart. Flu vaccines, it's never too late. We're not in the thick of the flu season yet. It's approved for six months old and up. And we encourage everyone to get vaccinated for the flu, too. You can contact your doctor if you have any questions regarding that."
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