Do my young children need to be vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna?

6 months old You can now get the COVID-19 vaccine To protect them from severe illness, hospitalization and death. And there are two options. One from Moderna and the other from Pfizer and BioNTech.

Both are mRNA vaccines that induce antibodies that fight high levels of the virus. Both reduce the risk of infection and the risk of transmitting the infection to others.In children, they can reduce the risk of Pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndromeOr MIS-C, which may prevent long COVID.

However Parents may wonder Great for babies, toddlers and preschool kids.

Dr. Annabel M of St. MauriceUCLA Health’s Pediatrician and Co-Chief Infection Prevention Officer understands the urge to thoroughly analyze the two options. But she said it wasn’t necessary.

“The simple answer is that both vaccines are very safe and effective,” she said. “And getting the first vaccine available is the best vaccine.”

However, there are two main differences. Dr. Alock PatelPediatrician at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford: Dosing Schedule and Side Effects.

Dosing schedule

Toddlers with Moderna can receive protection more quickly.

The Moderna vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years is a two-dose course and is injected at 1-month intervals. Children who choose the Moderna vaccine due to immunodeficiency require additional vaccination. This happens about a month after the second vaccination.

The Pfizer vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years requires 3 doses in 11 weeks. The first two doses will be given at 3-week intervals, and the third will be given 8 weeks after the second dose. (There are no additional shots for immunocompromised children.)

“I want to make sure my parents know the timing, because before the school year, before some kind of trip, or before they relax their vigilance, especially for the taller ones, the kids Because there are parents who want to be completely immunized.-Dangerous children, “Patel said. “Therefore, it is important for parents to understand that they will be vaccinated some time after the last injection and before they consider their child to be fully immunized.”

In most cases, it takes 6 weeks in Moderna, compared to 13 weeks in Pfizer, because the child is considered fully immunized 2 weeks after the final dose of the primary series.

“Parents can’t get their children to take the first two shots of the Pfizer vaccine and call it a day,” Patel said. “The first two shots do not give a sufficient antibody response. All three Pfizers are required.”

Side effects

The second major difference is that in clinical trials, the Moderna vaccine produced more fever in younger children than the Pfizer vaccine, Patel said.

“Probably because Moderna has a higher dose, a higher amount of mRNA micrograms compared to Pfizer,” he said.

Shots from the Moderna series contain a dose of 25 micrograms, which is a quarter of adults. Each of the three doses of Pfizer is 3 micrograms, which is one-tenth the size of an adult dose.

“So that’s something that some parents should also consider, for example, to know that if you’re working, your child may have a fever for the purpose of planning.”

However, de St. Maurice pointed out in a clinical trial that children in the placebo group also had a fever, reminding parents that fever is common in young children.

Both Patel and de St. Maurice emphasized that there were no serious side effects reported in the study.

The most common side effects of the Moderna vaccine in all age groups were fever and pain at the injection site, redness and swelling.

Side effects of 6-36 months study participants also included hypersensitivity, crying, drowsiness, and loss of appetite. Between 37 months and 5 years of age, there was fatigue, headache, myalgia, chills, nausea, vomiting, and joint stiffness.

The most common side effects of Pfizer vaccines vary with age. They were feverish for 6 to 23 month clinical trial participants. Pain, redness, swelling at the injection site; hypersensitivity and loss of appetite. Children aged 2-4 years reported headaches and chills in addition to these side effects.

Effectiveness

Pfizer’s vaccine reduced the risk of symptomatic infections in children aged 6 months to 4 years by 80%. The efficacy of the Moderna vaccine was 37% in children aged 2-5 years and 51% in children 6-23 months.

However, de St. Maurice said that comparing these numbers directly is as useful as comparing apples and oranges. This is because the numbers are based on a limited number of cases.

CDC Vaccine Advisor Both vaccines elicited an antibody response in infants, which was comparable to the levels needed to protect older children and adults.

“In general, parents should be reassured by the safety profile and efficacy of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines,” Patel said.

verdict

Ultimately, parents can’t make the wrong choice for their children, deSt. Maurice said.

She reminds her parents that most of us don’t know the manufacturer of the flu vaccine before we get it. She said there is no reason to do so with the COVID-19 vaccine, unless the efficacy of the drug recommended by the doctor is usually over-analyzed.

And because of its value, she will get the first available vaccine, either the 6-month-old Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine.