Steps to take if you want your kids vaccinated quickly for holiday travel

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

This paves the way for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to grant final approval at its meeting next week on Nov. 2. Once approved, children in this age group will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Here’s what you should know if you want to get your school-aged children vaccinated against COVID-19 promptly, especially with holiday travel approaching.

What comes next

The CDC is scheduled to meet on Nov. 2 to vote on its recommendation regarding the use of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

If approved — which is anticipated — CDC director Rochelle Walensky will then endorse the recommendation, allowing vaccines to be available to children as soon as the following day.

How to schedule a vaccination appointment for your child

If you want your children to be among the first to get vaccinated (assuming the vaccine is available next week as expected), you might consider booking an appointment now.

Not all providers have opened their appointment slots yet — though some have done so.

Although this is a smaller age group being approved, it's likely that pediatrician appointments will be limited during the initial days.

For instance, in Texas, the Texas Children's Hospital network is already scheduling appointments for children aged 5 to 11 to receive their first dose starting on Nov. 6, contingent upon official approval and availability of supplies.

You can also check with the same vaccine clinics — including pop-up sites, hospitals, and retail pharmacies — that have been administering vaccines to adults.

Holiday travel timeline

From a travel standpoint, every day matters if you want your children to be fully vaccinated before the holidays.

Children in this age group are expected to have the same full vaccination status as those aged 12 and older.

Pfizer’s vaccine consists of two doses administered at least three weeks apart. Full vaccination is generally considered to occur two weeks after the second dose is given.

Considering this schedule, if a child receives their first dose on Nov. 3, they could potentially get their second dose on Nov. 24 (the day before Thanksgiving), and would likely be deemed fully vaccinated two weeks later, on Dec. 8.

Every day of delay in starting the vaccination process postpones full vaccination status by an additional day. For instance, to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 23 under this five-week timeline, a child must receive their first dose by Nov. 18 at the latest.

This timeline indicates that children aged 5 to 11 could be partially vaccinated by Thanksgiving and fully vaccinated by Christmas.

The FDA recently broadened its emergency use authorization for the vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 15 on May 10, stating that the advantages of the vaccine in individuals 12 years and older outweigh the associated risks, thus endorsing its use in this demographic.

Since that announcement, the Pfizer vaccine has become readily accessible in the U.S. for everyone aged 12 and above.

Dr. Jenny Yu, the senior manager of medical integrity at Healthline Media (which is owned by TPG's parent company, Red Ventures), warns families to be cautious when traveling with unvaccinated members against COVID-19.

"I wouldn’t consider one shot sufficient for travel in December, as we anticipate a rise in cases during winter, particularly since global vaccination rates are low and infection rates remain high in the U.S.," Yu remarked to TPG earlier this fall.

For children under 5, Pfizer has indicated it plans to release clinical trial results for the 6 months to 2 years age group and the 2 to 5 years age group "as soon as later this year," suggesting that the vaccine could receive authorization for all age groups by early 2022.

In summary

This is a thrilling time for families eagerly anticipating the moment their 5- to 11-year-olds can be fully vaccinated.

Although full approval is not yet granted, if you wish to secure an appointment for your child, it's essential to start reaching out to local providers to understand how they will manage vaccine appointments. In some instances, scheduling may already be open.