COVID In Colorado: Pediatricians Prepare To Administer Pfizer COVID Vaccine For Ages 12-15

DENVER (CBS4) – On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will likely approve the Food and Drug Administration's authorization for children ages 12-15 to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. As this moves forward, naturally, parents have questions about how the vaccines will work.

CBS4's Mekialaya White checked in with University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Sean O'Leary for answers.

"As a pediatrician (at Children's Hospital), it's not uncommon for me to talk with families about concerns they have. It's important to explore where those concerns are coming from. We're hearing a lot from parents about misinformation, things that they've heard from someone else, on the internet or somewhere else," cautioned O'Leary. "Be careful about your sources of information."

One of the most common questions addresses the side effects of vaccines on kids vs. adults. O'Leary says there's not really much of a difference, comparatively.

"There's no biological reason why we would think a 15-year-old would react differently than a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old. A little soreness of the arm, some people get a fever, others don't. Some people have fatigue, others don't. Those are the kinds of things that people have been having. All of these things are temporary, a day or two," he explained. "I myself had a sore arm for a day and that was about it. My son, who's 17, has had both doses. He brags that he didn't even feel anything. So it's pretty similar to the experience that we're seeing in adults."

Parents have also been curious if teens will get the same dosage of the vaccine, as opposed to adults. O'Leary says the dose will be the same. "And that's actually true for most vaccines," said O'Leary. He says two shots will be required, 21 days apart.

He urges parents to get their kids vaccinated as soon as possible. "We know this is a severe disease in adults, and particularly older adults, but it's also not correct to say it's benign in children. We've had tens of thousands of hospitalizations in the U.S. already, several hundred deaths in children. At Children's Colorado here, we've taken care of lots of kids who've been really sick. We need this vaccine both to get back to normal society and also to protect the kids themselves."

Families can register for a vaccine appointment at Children's Hospital Colorado at: www.childrenscolorado.org/getvaccinated

O'Leary also recommends the following resources for credible information, in addition to inquiring with your pediatrician: https://www.cdc.gov/, https://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx