COVID-19 Vaccination For Kids Ages 5 To 11: Clearing Up Myths And Misinformation
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to approve mini-doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids as young as 5.
We found a lot of questions – and misinformation – floating around online. CBS 2's Chris Tye spent the day Wednesday unpacking myths and cleaning up concerns as families decide what's best for their little ones.
Doctors told Tye the same misinformation that was out there last winter when adult vaccines first rolled out now is being recirculated as our kids are now the ones eligible.
Minutes after the news broke Tuesday, Tye tweeted the Food and Drug Administration recommendation had endorsed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids as young as 5, and the CDC would need to offer approval next.
Later this year, kids as young as 6 months will be evaluated for vaccination.
The responses came in by the hundreds...
"I'm ready to get my two grands vaccinated!!!". one person wrote.
But others - the majority - had a different view.
"No way would I expose my young child to an experimental vaccine that has shown to cause blood clots, autoimmune and cardiovascular reactions," one person tweeted back.
"That little sound bite has a lot in there to unpack," said Dr. Allison Bartlett of the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital.
So we asked Bartlett to unpack it for us. First, is the vaccine really "experimental?"
"COVID vaccines are a relatively recent development based on decades' and careers' worth of science," she said. "Across the world, about 7 billion doses have been given."
She said blood clots have been associated with vaccinations, but none administered in the U.S.
"Individuals who have autoimmune diseases are recommended to get vaccinated because they may be more at risk for disease," Bartlett said.
As far as cardiovascular concerns — known as myocarditis?
"We do not know overall what the risk of myocarditis will be in the 5- to 11-year-old group," Bartlett said. "There were no individuals that developed it during the trial.
Another tweet we received claimed: "The risk from vax outweighs the risk from COVID in young kids. That is all you need to know to make an informed decision. Don't make your kids take part in this clinical trial."
Bartlett countered: "It is just the opposite. The risk of COVID infection and the long-haul COVID and post-COVID issues – risk of that far outweigh any risk of vaccination of these kids."
For parents on Twitter and elsewhere worried about long-term vaccination effects?
"There has never been a vaccine that has effects felt beyond the week or two after it's administered, so that is not a scientifically-based concern either," Bartlett said.
Bartlett said if the timeline holds and kids ages 5 to 11 can get fully vaccinated by mid -December, it really will change the landscape and open up options for families planning their winter break.
