A doctor explains what to expect after your child is vaccinated

ERIKA: A COVID-19 VACCINE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR KIDS AGED 5 TO 11-YEARS-OLD. HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IS DR. KRISTIN MOFFITT, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALISATT BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPIT. BEN: LET'SO G THROUGH WHAT WE KNOW. TWO SHOTS, THREE WEEKS APART. EACH ONE IS A SMALLER DOSE THAN THE ADULT VACCINE. WHAT KIND OF SIDE EFFECTS SHOULD PARENTS EXPECT LOT OF ADULTS DID HAVE SIDE EFFECTS >> INDEED LOTF O ADULTS DID HAVE SIDE EFFECTS. MYSELF INCLUDED. WHAT WENOW K FROM THE DATA THAT RECEIVED THIS VACCINE IS THAT THE MOST COMMON SIDE EECFFT WAS PAIN AT THE INJECONTI SITE. THAT WAS QUITE COMMON OCCURRED IN THE MAJORITY OF CHILDREN BUT NOT UNUSUAL FOR ANYONE GTINGET THE VACCINE. THE NEXT MOST COMMON SIDE EFFECTS TENDED TO BE MORE TYPICAL AFTER THE SECOND DOSE, THEY INCLUDED FATIGUE IN ABOUT A THIRD OF KIDS WHO GOT THE VACCEIN AND THEY INCLUDEDOM SE HEADACHE AND SOME MUSCLE ACHES IN LESS THAN A QUARTER OF KIDS THAT GOT THE VACCINE. THERE WAS ONLY A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF KIDS WHO REPORTED A FEVER. ABOUT 6%. IN GENERAL, THE FREQUENCY OF ANY OF THESE SIDE EFFECTS TENDED TO BE LOWER THAN WHAT SWA SEEN IN THE 16 TO 25-YEAR-OLDSHO PARTICIPATED IN THE PFIZER TRAI.LS WE JUST MIGHT EXPTEC THESE YOUNGER KIDS TO BE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE SIDE EFFECTS THAN WE OURSELVES DID OR ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS. ERIKA: THAT'S GDOO TO HEAR. OK, LET'S GET TO THESE QUESTIONS FROM VIEWERS. JEREMY WANTS TO KNOW OUR SON TURNS 12 ON DECEMBER8. 1 SHOULD HE GET THE SMAERLL VACCINE NOW OR WAIT UNTIL HE CAN GETHE T ADULT ONE? >> MY ANSWER TO THAT WODUL BE ATTH HE SHOULD GET TO WHICH EVER E ONHE'S ELIGIBLE TO GET AS SOON AS HE'S ELIGIBLE TO GET IT. VACCINES TRADITIONALLY ARE NOT ITWA BASED. THEY HAVE BEENGE A BASED. THAT'S BECAUSE UNLIKE A MEDICATION, THAT TENDS TOE B WAIT BASED FOR CHILDREN, WE EXPECT THE EFFECT OF A VACCINE AND ETH IMMUNE RESPONSE THAT IT GENERATES TO BE MORE RELATED TO A CHILD'S DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE OF THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM THAN THEIR WEIGHT. I THINK THAT FAMILIES OF OLDER CHILDREN IN THAT 5 TO 11-YEAR SPECTRUM ARE FAMILIESF O CHILDREN WITH MORE OF THE SIZE OF 5O T 13-YEAR-OLD, CAN SLLTI TAKE REASSURANCE, THERE WERE CHILDREN OF ALL SIZES INCLUDED IN THE 5 TO 11 AGE RANGE. THEY ALL ACHIEVED VERY GOOD IMMUNE RESPONSES WITH TSHI 10 MICRO GRAM, THIS LOWER DOSE. COMPARED TO IMMUNE RESPONSE TO 12 TO 15-YEAR-OLDS AND6 TO 25-YEAR-OLDS. URAL CHILD W'TON BE SHORTCHANGED BY STARTING THE LOWER DOSE NOW. I WOULD ENCOURAGE FAMILIES TO START WHATEVER VACCINE WE KNOW IS SAFE A EFFECTIVE. BEN: HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. MORGAN WRITES, OUR ELEMENTARY SCOLHO OFFERS POOL TESTING. SHOULD VACCINATED STUDENTS BE REMOVED FROM THE POOL? ARE THEY MORE LIKELY TO GET A FALSE POSITIVE? T>>HERE'S NO REASON THAT GETTING A VACCINE WILL MAKE YOU MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A FALSE-POSITIVE TEST FOR COVI COVID-19. FALLS-POSITIVE TESTSAN C HAPPEN. THEY WILL BE UNRELATED TO A PERSON HAVING RECEIDVE VACCINE OR NOT. I DON'T REALLY SEE ANY REASON TO EXCLUDE VACCINATED CHILDREN FROM POOLED TESTING. THAT'S TRUE IF POOL TESTING HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE HELPFUL IN DIFFERENT SOOCHL DISTRICTSF I IT HAS IDENTIFIED SOME OTHERWISE ASYMPTOMATIC OR VERY MILD INFECTIONS. WE WOULD EXPECT ANY INFECTION, ASYMPTOMATIC ONES TO BE LESS LIKE IN CHILDREN ONCE THEY'VE BEEN FULLY VACCINATED. WE KNOW THAT BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS CAN HAPPEN. LEAVING THOSE CHILDREN IN THE POOLE TESTING WOU BE FINE. ERIKA; HERE'S A QUESTION FROM DANA.IS THERE ANYTHING MY DAUGHTER CAN TAKE BEFORE THE SHOT SO SHE DOESN'T GET SORE? ANY TIPS FOR PARENTS? >> I THINK STAYING HYDRATED IS A GOOD IDEA. I THINK IF YOU HAVE A REALLY ACTIVE 5O T 11-YEAR-OLD, IF THEY PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVITY THAT REQUIRES A LOT OF THE SHOULR,DE MUSCLE USAGE, JUST KNOW THAT FOR THE DAY OR TWO AFTER TYHE GET THEIR VACCINE, THEY MAY BE A LILETT BIT MORE SORE AND A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSITIVE TO SOME OF THEOS ACTIVITIES. I WOUL'TDN NECESSARILY RECOMMEND THAT FAMILIES TAKE SOMETNGHI PROACTIVELY BEFORE THEIR CHILD GETS THE VACCINE. KNOW IF WHATHI CLD IS EXPERIENCING SOME OF THE MUGSLY MUSCLE ACHES IF IT'S BOTHERGIN THEM, YOU CAN

A doctor explains what to expect after your child is vaccinated

Updated: 2:03 PM EDT Nov 5, 2021

Dr. Kristen Moffitt, an infectious disease specialist at Boston Children's Hospital, explains what parents of children between the ages of 5 and 11 can expect after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. "What we know from the data from the thousands of 5 to 11-year-olds that received this vaccine is that the most common side effect was pain at the injection site," Boston Children's Hospital Dr. Kristin Moffitt said."Beyond that, the next most common side effects tended to be more typical after the second dose, and they included fatigue in about a third of kids who got the vaccine," Moffitt said. Moffitt said additional side effects in less than a quarter of children who received the vaccine included some headache and some muscle aches. "There was only a very small percentage of kids who reported a fever after the second dose," Moffitt said. "In general, the frequency of any of these side effects tended to be lower than what was seen in the 16-to-25-year-olds who participated in the Pfizer trials," Moffitt said.

BOSTON —

Dr. Kristen Moffitt, an infectious disease specialist at Boston Children's Hospital, explains what parents of children between the ages of 5 and 11 can expect after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

"What we know from the data from the thousands of 5 to 11-year-olds that received this vaccine is that the most common side effect was pain at the injection site," Boston Children's Hospital Dr. Kristin Moffitt said.

"Beyond that, the next most common side effects tended to be more typical after the second dose, and they included fatigue in about a third of kids who got the vaccine," Moffitt said.

Moffitt said additional side effects in less than a quarter of children who received the vaccine included some headache and some muscle aches.

"There was only a very small percentage of kids who reported a fever after the second dose," Moffitt said. "In general, the frequency of any of these side effects tended to be lower than what was seen in the 16-to-25-year-olds who participated in the Pfizer trials," Moffitt said.