Do my children need the updated COVID booster? Dr. Mallika Marshall answers your questions

BOSTON - Dr. Mallika Marshall is answering your medical questions. If you have a question, email her or message her on Facebook or Twitter.

Lauren in Revere writes, "I have two healthy kids, ages 2 and 7. They were vaccinated early on but do they really need to get this new updated booster?"

The CDC recommends the updated COVID-19 vaccine for all kids 6 months and older. The agency said children 5 and older should receive at least one dose of the updated Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and those 6 months up to 4 years get two doses of either vaccine.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than half of all American children 6 months and older have not received even one COVID-19 shot, yet perfectly healthy children can get really sick from COVID-19. And for parents who worry about the potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, like inflammation of the heart, your child is much more likely to get heart inflammation and heart complications from getting COVID than from getting the vaccine.

Dr. Mallika is offering her best advice, but as always, consult your personal doctor before making any decisions about your personal health.           

In:
• COVID-19 Vaccine
• Children

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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