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The FDA signed off, and now the Pfizer covid vaccine is waiting for the CDC before it can get to children ages 5 to 11.
“The authorization was based on a thorough and transparency of the data on safety and effectiveness of the vaccine,” said Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner.
“Yes, children have been less affected by COVID-19 compared with adults. But children do get sick from COVD-19 and can spread COVID-19 to others,” said Dr. Bhavna Vaniawala, pediatrician for Ascension.
Vaniawala recognizes the covid trends in her own office.
“As more adult population got vaccinated, we started seeing more kids come in with covid infection. Fortunately, most of our patients are, they had minor illness. A few of them required hospitalization,” Vaniawala said.
Vaniawala said she’s seen patients whose parents got the shot but are hesitant about their own kid getting it.
“We are not just trying to protect our kids from covid infections only, but by giving vaccines to our pediatric patients, we are trying to improve the immunity in the community, the country, everywhere,” Vaniawala said.
The shot is one-third of the adult dosage.
Vaniawala hopes more people are comfortable with their kids getting the vaccine from someone they know.
“It’s not a new person who is giving you the vaccine. And it can be, if you have any side effects also, it would be very easy to do a follow-up with your pediatricians, who can reassure you,” Vaniawala said.
Vaniawala said she will be ready to put shots in arms when approval comes.