COVID-19 Vaccination Information for Kids & Teens
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of three COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. A Pfizer vaccine to prevent COVID-19 for people 16 years of age and older as well as Johnson & Johnson and Moderna for people age 18 and over. There is no vaccine approved yet for children under age 16. We are following Massachusetts Department of Public Health criteria regarding guidance on prioritization.
Some of us are getting vaccinated to keep our patients safe. Others just want to see our grandparents again. Watch our video to learn why Boston Children’s employees and patients say they’re choosing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccines in kids and teens
Clinical trials have taken place in teens as young as 16 years old. The results of phase 1 and 2 trials of several vaccines administered to thousands of adults demonstrate these vaccines are safe and well-tolerated in adults. This suggests these same vaccines could begin being safely tested in children ages 12 and older.
When will the COVID-19 vaccines for be available for kids?
Testing has begun in children 6 months to age 12 years, but there are a few steps in the process.
Vaccine eligibility
The vaccine is being offered in phases. Boston Children’s needs to get an official ‘green light’ from the FDA, CDC, and state government before we can offer COVID-19 vaccine to our patients who meet certain criteria. When your child meets the criteria of the current phase, we will reach out to you to schedule an appointment. Read more about COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in Massachusetts.
We are adhering state eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccination. At this point, we are only offering vaccines to qualifying patients. Any parents, caregivers, or other household members who qualify for the vaccine should schedule their vaccine through the MassHealth website.
In Massachusetts, both paid and unpaid caregivers who directly care for certain medically complex people are prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination within Phase 1. These are patients who require skilled services, reside in their home or the community, have been determined by the state (either by MassHealth or another state agency) to be at Nursing Facility of Institutional Level of Care based on a disability or medical condition(s), and require support from unpaid essential caregivers where the essential caregiver cannot reasonably self-isolate or quarantine without transferring the medically complex individual to an institutional setting of care. This includes medically complex people enrolled in the following programs:
- Community Case Management managed by MassHealth
- Medical Review Team managed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH)
- Care Coordination Program Level 3 managed by DPH
- Pediatric Palliative Care Network managed by DPH
- Medically Complex Programs managed by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
- Intensive Family Support managed by DDS
- DESE Program managed by DDS
- Autism Waiver Program managed by DDS
For more information, please visit mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine
Boston Children’s plans to run COVID-19 vaccine clinics for our patients, just like we do for yearly flu shots. It is possible that there will be sites closer to home that will give the vaccine, too. You will get a vaccine record that you can take with you. You can search for vaccines near you on the vaccine.gov website.
Educating kids about the COVID-19 vaccine
Vaccine update for Boston Children's patients
The process of vaccinating our eligible patients will take several weeks. Please wait to hear from us to see if your child is eligible. You won’t need to call the hospital — instead, we will reach out by email or phone to schedule a vaccination appointment.
While we are eager to be a vaccine resource, we encourage you to take advantage of any opportunity to schedule a vaccination appointment through state and local health care organizations and agencies by visiting mass.gov/vaccine.
Because every state is a little different, we encourage Boston Children’s families outside Massachusetts to get vaccinated in your home state as soon as you are eligible, instead of waiting for your child to receive their vaccine at Boston Children’s.
At Boston Children’s, we’re vaccinating eligible patients against COVID-19.
Here’s what to expect.
Scheduling your child’s vaccine if they are a Boston Children's patient
The names of patients who meet the state eligibility criteria will be randomized and then contacted by our scheduling team. We have thousands of patients eligible in the current phase. Depending on vaccine availability, we anticipate it will take us weeks or months to schedule and immunize all of these patients.
If we contact you about scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine, and you don’t want to do so at that time, the scheduler will offer to defer your appointment. We will call you back in the future when we have more vaccines available.
To help ensure social distancing, we are asking that all patients scheduled for a vaccine arrive with no more than one other person.
Yes. We will ask you if you need transportation assistance when we contact you to schedule your child’s vaccine.
If your child has MassHealth coverage or the Health Safety Net, including MassHealth Limited, Children’s Medical Security Program (CMSP) and MassHealth Family Assistance (FA), you can arrange free transportation to your child’s COVID-19 vaccine appointment by calling 800-841-2900 (TTY: 800-497-4648). For more information, visit the MassHealth website.
Boston Children’s is providing free parking for all vaccine appointments.
What is the difference between the COVID-19 vaccines?
Two experts in infectious disease talk about the Pfizer & Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, safety, and what needs to happen before we can stop wearing masks.
Questions about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?
Dr. Ofer Levy, director of Boston Children’s Precision Vaccines Program, weighs in.
Learn how Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, a third vaccine, was developed.
Vaccine safety
Yes. Both of the vaccines currently available provide the most protection after two doses. Some people have mild side effects, like a sore arm or headache, that last for a day or two after the vaccine. These side effects are normal. If your child had an allergic reaction after the first dose, please talk to your doctor before getting the second dose.
Yes. Your child should get the vaccine even if they have already had COVID-19. Even though having had COVID-19 may provide some protection from getting sick again, we do not know how long that protection will last.
No. People with COVID-19 can get the vaccine after they are feeling better and meet the criteria to stop isolation. Read the CDC’s guidelines on when you can be around others after having COVID-19.
If your child had COVID-19 and had monoclonal antibody or convalescent plasma treatments, they should wait 90 days to get the vaccine. Talk with your child’s doctor about when your child should receive the vaccine.
There is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine affects future fertility.
Yes. The companies that developed the two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are currently studying their vaccines in younger adolescents between 12 and 16. Once these studies are finished, the companies will report the results and ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for authorization to vaccinate children as young as 12. The companies will begin studying their vaccines in children between age 5 and 11 after results from their adolescent trials are available. That would happen this spring at the earliest.
At this point, we can’t give an exact date, for 2 main reasons:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Massachusetts state government make recommendations about which groups of people should get the vaccine and in what order. In Massachusetts (and nationally), the vaccine is first being given to health care workers and elderly people living in nursing homes. As soon as we can give the vaccine to patients, we will be ready to do so.
- The FDA has authorized 2 different vaccines. There are other companies making vaccines too, and it’s likely that more vaccines will be authorized for use. So far, no vaccines have been authorized for children younger than 16. We will be able to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to younger kids once they are approved for these ages.
The data we have seen make us confident that the vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safe for the ages included in the authorization. The Pfizer vaccine is authorized for use in people 16 and older and the Moderna vaccine is authorized for use in people 18 and older.
Most new medicines and vaccines are studied in adults first, so the first authorization for the vaccines doesn’t include children under 16. Companies have begun studying the vaccines in younger children, and there will be more information coming on their safety and effectiveness in children. Very rarely, some people have had allergic reactions to the vaccines, which can be treated.
In adults, the most common symptoms after getting vaccinated are a mild-to-moderate headache, muscle aches or fatigue and sometimes a low fever. These usually don’t last more than a day or two.
In adults, the vaccines authorized so far by the FDA are up to 95% effective for preventing COVID-19. This is a very high level of protection and a very promising result. Now that we know they are safe and effective in adults, studies have started to include younger children, and we will be able to tell if they work as well in children as they do in adults once those studies are done.
No. The reason that the COVID-19 vaccines were able to be made so quickly is that the government provided extra money to support the research and production. The quality of the trials and the review of the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines has not changed from normal processes.
The Pfizer vaccine is given in 2 doses, with the second dose coming 3 weeks after the first. The Moderna vaccine is given in 2 doses, with the second dose coming 4 weeks after the first. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given in one dose. Eventually, there will probably be other vaccines available with different schedules.
According to the CDC, people who have been fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks outside while walking, cycling, or exercising alone, or when in small gatherings, including with members of their own households. Masks are still necessary in crowded outdoor spaces such as sports stadiums. You will still need to wear a mask in public indoor spaces, too.
Remember, the biggest benefit of getting the vaccine is to protect against severe disease from COVID-19. Whether or not the vaccine prevents people from having COVID-19 without symptoms and spreading it to others is still being studied. Also, it’s going to take a long time to get enough people vaccinated to keep the virus from spreading.
According to the CDC, vaccine doses purchased with U.S. taxpayer dollars will be given to Americans at no cost. However, vaccination providers may charge an administration fee for giving the shot.
Download the patient education sheet
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