10. Understanding the COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Under 5 Years to 6 Months Old & Addressing Vaccination Concerns for Parents

Daniel Johnson, MD and Christina Wells, MD, MPH, FAAFP host this expanded episode to discuss, in detail, the COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 years to 6 months old . They acknowledge that many physicians may be hesitant to recommend parents vaccinate their infants. They will help listeners understand more about these vaccines so they are better equipped when recommending the COVID-19 vaccination and answering questions that parents may have.   

The COVID-19 vaccine has been studied more than any other vaccine in history.  Drs. Johnson &  Wells will discuss the experiences they encountered in their practices and share information to help other clinicians include these vaccines as part of a regular patient visit.  

Our subject matter experts encourage clinicians to always take the opportunity to vaccinate.  The best time to vaccinate is when the patient is in your office and agrees to it.  Don’t wait for the child to move up to the next age group if they are in an age group that is eligible for a vaccine now.

In this episode, they will share:    

• Strategies they have used to address parental concerns
• Resources that may be helpful to give to the parents to help them make their decision
• Challenges, other than vaccine hesitancy, they have encountered, as well as positive experiences
• Best practices to mitigate concerns about the various COVID-19 vaccines & reduce the risk of improper dosing
• Staffing issues & strategies that have been useful to help staff feel comfortable administering the vaccines
• Ways you can use every visit as an opportunity to offer and discuss the COVID-19 vaccines, not only for the infant or toddler, for the parents and anyone else in the household
• Resources that are available to clinicians
• Details about the Moderna & Pfizer vaccines- differences, similarities, dosing, side effects, etc.
• How this vaccine is similar to vaccines we have for other viruses & how vaccinations vary for respiratory & non-respiratory viruses.

Objectives:

•  Understand various concerns parents have when deciding whether to have their infants or toddlers receive the COVID-19 vaccines
• Identify the differences between the Pfizer & Moderna vaccines for this age group
• Utilize various strategies to help to increase the uptake of COVID vaccines within your office
• Explain how vaccines for respiratory viruses differ from non-respiratory viruses and why boosters are needed
• Discuss best practices for storage and administration of vaccines 
• Gain confidence to address concerns that the COVID-19 vaccines were developed too fast & the details to support why they are the most researched of any vaccine up to this point

Learn more at:
www.illinoisvaccinates.com/podcasts/

• CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/about-vaccines/
• Illinois Vaccinates – www.Illinoisvaccinates.com
• COVID-19 Pediatric Vaccines FAQs 
• COVID-19 – Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (illinoisaap.org)
• American Academy of Pediatrics Critical Updates on COVID-19
• COVID Vaccine Dosing Quick Reference

Visit us at illinoisvaccinates.com/podcasts.