COVID vaccines now recommended by CDC for ages 12 & up

 Today's announcement from the LACDPH:

Starting tomorrow, Los Angeles County vaccination providers may begin offering the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds at vaccination sites that offer the Pfizer vaccine. All eight county run sites will be open tomorrow and able to vaccinate children 12-17; teens should be accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult, and present a photo ID and verification of age.  For a full list of sites across the county offering Pfizer vaccines, please visit http://bit.ly/PfizerSites . To schedule an appointment, visit www.VaccinateLACounty.com beginning this evening; walk-ins are welcome at all 8 county-run sites.  Parents or teens with questions about the vaccine should contact their healthcare provider or visit the Public Health website for more information on vaccine safety and efficacy.

From the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Safety

Pfizer and CDC officials reviewed data on safety and efficacy of the vaccine during Wednesday’s ACIP meeting. Pfizer and BioNTech conducted trials in more than 2,000 adolescents ages 12-15 with half randomized to receive the vaccine and half to receive a placebo.

The most common side effects in adolescents were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, consistent with trials in older teens and adults.

About 6% of vaccine recipients experienced an adverse event, including seven cases of swollen lymph nodes. There were five serious adverse events in the vaccine group (0.4%) including one person with abdominal pain, constipation and neuralgia and others with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. None of the serious events were determined to be related to the vaccine and no deaths were reported. There also were no reports of blood clots, serious allergic reactions or Bell’s palsy.

Efficacy

Vaccine efficacy for this age group was 100%. Among just over 1,000 vaccine recipients, there were no cases of COVID-19, while 16 were reported among more than 970 placebo recipients. An immunogenicity analysis in 190 participants also showed their response was even better than the response for those ages 16-25 years.

I do recommend vaccinating kids 12-17. I think this Washington Post piece summarized the data well:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/24/case-vaccinating-children-covid-19/

I am sorry that I am unable to offer the vaccine in my office yet.  Pfizer's vaccine requires a special, ultra-cold freezer and also only comes in shipments of 1200 doses.  Both of these are expected to change in the coming months. My website will be updated with all news. 

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