COVID-19 Vaccine Information & Registration

Although children generally suffer milder illness from COVID-19 than adults, they may still suffer long-lasting, severe complications and even death if they do get the disease. Since there is no way to predict which children might become severely ill, getting vaccinated reduces their chances of serious complications.

Johns Hopkins pediatricians Anna Sick-Samuels and Allison Messina pointed out in a recent interview that vaccinating children is yet another step to getting the pandemic under control. Infected children can transmit the virus to others even if they themselves have no symptoms. The vaccine will help protect the people around them, including people who might be at higher risk for serious illness.

They suggest to parents, “Another reason to consider a COVID-19 vaccine for your child is to protect the health of the broader community. Each child or adult infected with the coronavirus provides a chance for the virus to mutate and create a variant that might prove more dangerous or resistant to the available vaccines and therapies. Fewer overall infections among the population means less chance of dangerous coronavirus variants.”

You can read more of their interview here.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to 12-15 year olds as a series of two doses, three weeks apart, using the same dosage and dosing interval as for 16 years of age and older.

Learn more about the FDA’s expansion of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to include 12-15 year olds.

The side effects reported during clinical trials in adolescents aged 12-15 years were similar to those most commonly reported for participants 16 and older. These lasted from 1-3 days and included:

• Pain at the injection site
• Tiredness
• Headache
• Fever or chills
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain

These are all indications that the body is building protection against the virus. Except for injection site pain, more adolescents reported these side effects after the second dose than after the first. Not everyone experiences side effects, and an absence of side effects does not mean the vaccine is not working.

Clinical studies using the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for participants 12-15 were conducted and the data reviewed using the same stringent safety criteria and protocols as were followed in studies for participants 16 and up. In phase 3 trials with 2,260 US adolescents aged 12-15, the vaccine was found to be well-tolerated and effective, and Pfizer reported very strong protective antibody responses in this age group.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock commented “Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.”

Learn more about the rigorous safety standards that must be met for the FDA to grant Emergency Use Authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines.

Because the COVID-19 vaccines are age-based and not weight-based, a child is not required to achieve a certain weight before being vaccinated. Vaccines work differently in the body than medications, which is why often the same vaccine dosage can be given to different age groups.

It depends on which vaccine you receive. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both two-dose vaccines, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose. The Pfizer doses are given 21 days apart, and the Moderna doses are given 28 days apart. If you get the two-dose series, it is very important that you get both doses so that your body develops the most protection it can to protect you against COVID-19.

The CDC recommends an additional third dose of Moderna or Pfizer for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and who were vaccinated with either the Moderna or Pfizer series.

Health experts from the Department of Health and Human Services have developed plans to begin offering additional COVID-19 shots for the rest of the general (non-immunocompromised) population. They will submit these to the FDA and CDC’s Advisory Committee for approval. We will add more information as we receive it.

If possible, yes. The CDC calls mixing and matching “interchangeability.” The CDC recommends that people who got either the Pfizer or the Moderna mRNA series do their best to stay with the same brand for any needed future additional doses. This is because there is not enough information to tell whether mixing vaccine brands is safe or effective. There is also little information on the safety and effectiveness of getting a Johnson & Johnson vaccine after an mRNA vaccine, but it may be considered in limited, exceptional situations. 
 
Certain immunocompromised people may need an additional dose, and the FDA and CDC are evaluating whether additional doses for other people are needed too. There is not enough information yet to know if immunocompromised people who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will need an additional dose, but we expect to know soon. Read the clinical guidance from the CDC about COVID-19 vaccine interchangeability.

The SAVE LIVES Act, signed into law on March 24, 2021, authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide COVID-19 vaccine to all Veterans, including those not enrolled in the VA health care system, their caregivers and spouses.

These groups are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA:

• Anyone who served in the U.S. military
• Spouses of Veterans
• Caregivers of Veterans
• Recipients of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) benefits

Go to www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine for more information and to get started.

Why get a vaccination at VA? Veterans who are not currently receiving benefits can get a vaccine through the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System while also checking to see if they can be enrolled for health benefits and services.

Setting an appointment may go more quickly if:

• You use a desktop or laptop, not a mobile device
• You use Chrome, Edge, or Firefox browsers
• You have your insurance card handy (if you have insurance)