SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) - Pfizer is seeking emergency authorization use from the FDA for their COVID vaccine for children under the age of 12. Now parents are asking questions and doctors are sharing what they know so far.
As news spreads of Pfizer's request for vaccine approval, some parents are still questioning how the vaccine will affect bodies that are still growing and developing.
"It's not enough research, just not enough information on it," mother Briana Stevens said.
On the other hand, there are parents that looking for the opportunity to vaccinate their children against COVID.
"I have six kids, but only two are over 12, just me and my two oldest daughters was able to get vaccinated. So the other kids are still out the vulnerable to a serious virus in my opinion," Mother Kristy Block said.
Doctors say more than 2000 children participated in Pfizer's COVID vaccine trial.
Paperwork for the emergency authorization should be submitted by the end of September, hoping to have approval by the end of October. Dr. Anna-Kathryn Burch, Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician, with Prisma Health explains why it's important for kids.
"It is hard to know whether or not we are seeing more patients in the children's hospital because more patients are getting infected versus whether or not the delta virus is more virulent. We're not going to know that information for a couple of months. That being said, obviously getting your child vaccinated is the easiest and the best way of protecting your child from COVID-19," Prisma Health, Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician, Dr. Anna-Kathryn Burch, said.
If the vaccine for children is approved, elementary school aged children will receive a two-dose series.
"My daughter, who was vaccinated over the weekend, she's actually been quarantined twice for close contact, which really just makes me worry about her education," Block said.
Some parents are concerned about the effects the vaccine will have on their kids. Doctors say, keeping kids healthy and in school will be beneficial for all in the long run.
"Being able to stay in school being with their peers, getting in in face learning, is paramount to their learning, especially during that elementary school age," Dr. Burch said.
If the vaccine is approved for children, health officials encourage parents to stay in contact with their child's pediatrician. Also saying they will work with school systems, with parents' approval, to help get the vaccine out.
According to Pfizer's results, vaccine approval for children younger than 5 are not expected till the fourth quarter of this year at the earliest.
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