With the approval from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for the youngest population.

Greene County Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laurie Connolly says the vaccine for those six months to four years of age are now available with Greene County Public Health. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio there are two options including Moderna with two doses to be taken four weeks apart, and Pfizer with three doses. The second dose to be administered three weeks after the first shot and the third dose is eight weeks after the second shot. 

Dr. Connolly points out that when the vaccine process first started, medical experts were mostly concerned with the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions getting a vaccine to slow down the illness and rate of death caused by covid. Then data was collected that showed kids were also being impacted by the virus.

“So that was a big reason why there was a delay in even studying immunizations. We did not at first think they could be harmed by covid or maybe even get covid. And then of course, you want to make sure that something is safe before you testing it in children. So there was that component of it also that once we had the safety data for the adults, then the (federal) government was feeling safer about studying this vaccine in children.”   

Dr. Connolly says both vaccines have low risk for fevers in children, according to the CDC study. The Moderna vaccine resulted in a 16-percent chance of a low to moderate fever, whereas the Pfizer vaccine had a 5.8-percent risk for fever. Contact Greene County Public Health to schedule a free covid vaccine for six month to four year olds by calling 515-386-3228.