FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF News ) – COVID-19 vaccines are now available for kids 6 months to 5 years old and doctors across North Texas are being inundated with questions from parents.
The FDA gave the final approval for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be distributed to this younger demographic.
Doctor Jeffrey Kahn is Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Health in Dallas and is advising parents to get their children inoculated.
He said getting the vaccine now will help kids avoid catching COVID-19 in the event of another wave of infections.
“Typically, with these vaccines its takes several weeks between the doses and it takes weeks after that before someone is considered fully immunized. So, if you wait and a new variant emerges it may just be to late and they may not be fully immunized,” he said.
Physicians have said that many parents want to know how the vaccines will impact their children and are concerned about the unknown. Dr. Kahn said research has proven the shots are safe for kids.
“We have a mountain of information about these vaccines and we know from all of those studies and certainly the studies of young children that they’re safe and they’re effective,” he said.
Doctors nationwide are mostly in unison in their advice for parents when it comes to the vaccine and stress that a healthy child does not equal immunity from the virus.
“During the omicron wave, more than half of the children who were hospitalized had no underlying risk factors, no underlying health problems. So, if you think because your child is healthy they’re not going to get COVID…that’s just not true,” he said.
Doctors and pharmacies across DFW have already placed orders for hundreds of doses ahead of last week’s FDA approval.
On Tuesday afternoon, Dallas County health officials will lay out their plans to offer vaccines to children. Other counties are expected to reveal their plans in days to come.
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