What are the side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine in young children?Experts try to ease parents’ concerns

Side effects most commonly included pain at the injection site, sometimes with swelling and redness.

“All of this is categorized as a fairly common side effect that most parents who take their children to a doctor to vaccinate against various hepatitis and tetanus are probably quite accustomed to,” Paulsen said. Says.

When it comes to systemic or systemic symptoms, the most common were fatigue or drowsiness. Some children had irritability or turmoil, loss of appetite, headache, abdominal pain or discomfort, swollen lymph nodes, mild diarrhea or vomiting. But everyone soon got better.

“This is very similar to the side effects seen in older children and adults. About 24 hours for some children are sick, tired and not the same. Appetite. But thank you. In particular, there were no serious side effects of these vaccines, “Dr. Ashishger, Correspondence Coordinator for Whitehouse Covid-19, told CBS Monday. “And again, after giving these vaccines to millions of children, I’m really relieved to know that these vaccines are very safe for young children.”

Side effects are mild to moderate, and this younger age group is far less frequent than older people, Paulsen said.

“The big picture of my parents is really [that] Side effects should not be a concern. ”

Possibility of fever

Children were slightly more likely to have a fever with the Moderna vaccine. It occurred in less than 10% of Pfizer, but in about a quarter of test participants. Most of the fever was mild. Less than 1% of all participants in the study had a fever of up to 104 degrees.

“It was rare, but if we weren’t honest with our parents, it would be worrisome when these things came up,” Paulsen said.

Antipyretic was not common, so Paulsen does not recommend pre-treating the child by giving the child an antipyretic drug prior to firing.

He said parents could give ibuprofen or acetaminophen if the child had a fever.

“Most kids are doing well and are likely to have really minimal problems,” he said.

No cases of myocarditis

However, myocarditis was not a problem in infant trials.

“Additional layer of protection”

Some parents find it cumbersome to vaccinate their children because children are less likely to be infected with the more severe Covid-19 than adults. However, Jha said Covid-19 is “quite common” to children. He said that almost 70% of children were infected at some point, but they can always get it again-and even if it was initially mild, it was It does not mean that it will be the next time.

“It’s still worth getting a vaccine, but it really provides an additional level of protection, an additional layer of protection. What the vaccine does is keep the child away from the hospital. So the vaccine is very effective. And everyone deserves that protection, “said Jha. ..

“Looking at this age group, we can see that Covid has killed more than 200 people between the ages of 6 months and 5 since January 2020. If you want to compare it to something like the flu, those numbers are In fact, influenza is higher than what is seen every year in all children under the age of 18, “said Lao, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Corona Children’s Hospital.

“We are vaccinated against measles, pneumococcal infections and meningitis on a regular basis, which is actually causing many deaths,” she added. “The safety of this young age group is actually much better and better than the other groups.”

According to Lao, some parents asked her if she needed to worry about long-term side effects. She reassures them that they would have appeared in clinical trials, if any.

“FDA and then [CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices], And all of these governing groups that make these recommendations are very good at assessing safety and efficacy and examining all manufacturing data for these vaccines. This is a very rigorous and comprehensive review, “says Rao. The fact that the agency took some time to approve these shots to these young kids is really understandable as they absolutely had to confirm because this is a very vulnerable group. increase. “

Welcome parents’ questions

Dr. Nina Alfieri, a pediatrician at Chicago’s Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, has a lot of interest in the Covid-19 vaccine for the youngest child, but parents want to know about the safety of the vaccine. I would think.

This year, Lully surveyed 5,000 Chicago parents to find out where they stand on the Covid-19 vaccine. Side effects were one of their greatest concerns.

“It makes sense. You want to make sure that what you’re doing for your child is safe,” Alfieri said.

Alfieri said caregivers always want to ask a pediatrician to alleviate their concerns.

“I love being told that my family is a little anxious when they come to me, because they give me the opportunity to sit face-to-face and talk about their concerns in a safe environment,” she said. rice field.

“There will be a lot of conversations in the coming months. I think all of us pediatricians are ready for that. We welcome this kind of conversation. Overall, this is a really exciting time for us. So. Finally, this vulnerable and very young age group is eligible for protection because it was excluded from one of the best safeguards. “