Children's Covid-19 vaccinations: Pediatricians say some parents are eager to vaccinate their kids, with others asking questions

And parents are coming at them with a lot of questions: When can my child come in to get their vaccine? And what are the side effects?

But before administering vaccine, doctors’ offices are waiting for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give the green light. And, of course, they’re waiting for the vaccines themselves.

Some 28 million children ages 5 to 11 are eligible for the vaccine, and pediatricians and pharmacies are already preparing to administer their shots, once the CDC recommends doing so. On Tuesday, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is meeting to discuss the vaccines.

As the nation approaches this historic moment in the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccinating the youngest age group yet against Covid-19, pediatricians’ offices report the mood among parents is a mix of eagerness and hesitancy.

‘This is what I expected’

For Dr. Christina Johns, senior medical adviser at PM Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Annapolis, Maryland, the mix of moods is what she expected.

“Two-thirds of families are excited for the vaccine — these families want to be first in line and will be signing their children up once available,” Johns wrote in an email to CNN about her patients’ families.

“One-third of families, on the other hand, are still hesitant and have questions,” she added. “This is what I expected and falls in line with data from other medical groups.”

Dr. Ania Wajnberg, director of clinical antibody testing at The Mount Sinai Hospital, has seen a similar mix of moods around getting children vaccinated.

“I think probably about a third are dying to do this. I fall into that group,” said Wajnberg, a mother of two children between the ages of 5 and 11. She added that the pandemic has been difficult for children since many have been social distancing from friends and loved ones, and some families view getting vaccinated as a way to bring children a new level of freedom as well as some protection against Covid-19.

“Then I think there’s about a…

Source : cnn