Children 6 months old to 4 years old are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Public health officials have evaluated the safety data and concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines are safe for young children and effective at reducing COVID-19-related serious illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths in young children.

“This is a very exciting moment," said Teresa Lee, a physician at International Community Health Services (ICHS). “Finally, families have a safe way to protect their children against the severe health risks of COVID-19.”

Parents of young children have been navigating the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic for over two years, forgoing normal daily activities to protect their children. And now, the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for babies over 6 months and toddlers provides families greater freedom to participate in normal educational, social, and recreational activities.

“I have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to get my 7 month old daughter and 2-and-a-half year old son vaccinated to protect them against COVID,” said Dr. Lee. “Vaccinating my kids can also help to protect my other vulnerable family members that they visit. Like their great grandparents.”

COVID-19 vaccines protect young children

COVID-19 vaccines remain the single-most important tool that we have to protect people against severe illness from COVID-19. However, some still think that COVID-19 cases for children are always mild.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation about children and vaccines,” said White House COVID response director Dr. Ashish Jha. Some have suggested that COVID is not a ‘big deal’ for kids. But the truth is we know kids can get sick from [COVID-19].”

According to the American Medical Association, since the beginning of the pandemic, among children in the U.S. aged 6 months to 4 years, there have been more than 2 million cases of COVID-19, more than 20,000 hospitalizations, and more than 200 deaths.

The CDC has reported that during the Omicron wave this past winter, children under 5 were hospitalized at five times the rate of previous pandemic peaks. More than half of hospitalized children ages 6 months to four years had no underlying conditions. An acute COVID-19 infection is less life-threatening to children, although a significant number of children have died—over 1,000 in the US alone. But a small number of children can develop a dangerous condition in which many of their organs become inflamed, known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS), which can result in lasting organ damage if left untreated. Another concern is long-COVID. All of these conditions can be prevented with vaccinations.

Pediatricians and health providers are encouraging their patients with young children to consider their safety and wellbeing and have them vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Wearing masks and social distancing are often not possible for our youngest kids and babies.” said Dr. Lee. “Instead, having children vaccinated against COVID-19 like other diseases, is the best way to protect them.”