BUFFALO, N.Y. — Children as young as six months old are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and will be able to get their shot this week.

What You Need To Know

  • The FDA authorized emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in six months to five years old
  • CDC officials now recommend all children over six months are vaccinated for COVID-19
  • The vaccines are the same as those given to adults, just in smaller doses

The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off this weekend.

The CDC is now recommending the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for all children between six months and 5 years old. Americans 5 years and older were already eligible.

Federal officials estimate 20 million more kids can now be vaccinated. The rollout begins this week and the vaccine should start to be available from pediatricians, pharmacies, local health departments and other locations.

Dr. Stephen Turkovich, the chief medical officer at Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo, said the Pfizer vaccine is a three dose series over 11 weeks, while Moderna is two doses over one month.  

Both are the same as adult vaccines, just smaller doses.

"The reason that they're smaller doses is babies and kids didn't need as high a dose in order to achieve in order to achieve the same immune response that the adults did,” Turkovich said. “Also, by lowering the dose, you're going to decrease the risk of side effects. So you get the benefit of the lower dose with lower side effects, but you also get a really great immune response.”

He added that the common side effects can be similar to those found in adults or other childhood vaccines: pain at the point of injection, maybe a fever or irritability, but those tend to go away after about 24 hours.

Turkovich said that both of his children, 9 and 11, were vaccinated as soon as they were eligible.

Still, some parents might have concerns about the safety of the vaccines.

"One of the reasons this took a little bit longer for approval is the FDA and CDC wanted to make sure this vaccine was safe,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases at Oishei Children's Hospital. “Based on trial data that's available, to date, there's no safety signals of concern. So I think we're in good shape to move forward and get this last group of individuals finally vaccinated.”

While COVID-19 transmission rates have trended down in much of upstate New York recently, the doctors said the fall could bring another spike in cases.

Turkovich said over the past three months, Oishei Children's Hospital has had an increase in the percentage of kids under 5 admitted for symptomatic COVID-19.

If parents are thinking about back to school, the vaccine series could take us into the fall before it's fully effective depending on when the shots are administered. 

According to Russo, even if kids have had COVID-19 before, adding the vaccine is the best way to protect them and those around them from severe illnesses.

Both Turkovich and Russo advise parents talk with their pediatricians for the most complete information about the vaccines.