By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Families with babies and toddlers can now rest with ease knowing that COVID-19 vaccines have now been authorized and recommended for emergency use in children 6 months of age and older. However, local health officials are asking parents of children in this age group to be patient because it takes more care and time to vaccinate them.
According to health officials, the vaccines for younger children have been authorized for emergency use only and have yet to receive full authorization from the FDA.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have made vaccines available for this age group, but it is important to know that at this time public health officials say that the vaccine shipments for children under the age of 5 from the federal government are delayed. Vaccine sites are waiting on supplies and shifting operations to serve the youngest patients, so not all vaccine locations will be ready immediately to give vaccinations to this age group. Vaccination should be available more readily in the coming weeks.
“As a parent of a child under 5, it’s been hard to watch as vaccines for older age groups received authorization and many people ‘moved on’ from the pandemic,” says Andie Lyons, Program Manager – Maternal, Child & Adolescent COVID-19 Vaccines for Public Health of Seattle King County. “For those of us with small children, ‘moving on’ hasn’t been an option.”
As part of a larger team that has been planning to vaccinate children under the age of 5 since December 2021, Lyons says that is has been difficult for health care providers to get to the point where they are finally in a position to vaccinate children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old.
“It has been challenging,” says Lyons. “Many aspects of planning have evolved over the last 7 months as manufacturers shifted timelines, the FDA scheduled and then cancelled meetings, and the virus changed its course.”
“Now vaccine for children under 5 is finally just around the corner,” added Lyons. “We are so excited to serve this important population and finally get shots in the arms or legs of the youngest King County residents.”
Public Health Seattle-King County is looking to make it easier for pediatric providers to get vaccines, make it easier for families to get their children vaccinated, prepare vaccinators to be ready for much younger patients and deliver information and education about vaccine for babies and young children out to the general public.
“We know that all of these vaccines do an incredible job of preventing really serious illness including hospitalization and death and while kids have been, in general, less significantly impacted by COVID, it is our youngest kids and babies who have experienced the highest rates of hospitalization,” says Lyons.
While the availability of the vaccines depends on the supply and shipment from the federal government, officials with Public Health Seattle-King County say that based on their conversations with providers, health care systems, and other partners, they “believe that parents and caregivers should be able to access COVID-19 vaccinations at a variety of locations in a couple of weeks following the authorization [by the FDA].”
“Please check with your child’s pediatrician or clinic, or our vaccination sites, for appointments once the FDA authorizes and CDC recommends the vaccines,” says Lyons. “Children of this age require a little more time and care to vaccinate, so most vaccinations for babies will be done by appointment only. Many pharmacies will not be able to vaccinate babies and very young children, so check ahead before going to a pharmacy.”
