With rollout of kids' vaccine, Wellstar pediatrician urges shots

Dec. 3—Dr. Andy Doyle, a pediatrician with Wellstar Health System, told the MDJ Thursday he's recommending all parents consider having their children receive a COVID-19 vaccination, particularly ones with added risk factors.

"We recommend everybody in that age group consider getting vaccinated," Doyle said. "Absolutely children who have underlying medical conditions that could make them at higher risk of getting severe disease ... especially respiratory-type illnesses like asthma, or if they're obese, those things that we know are associated with more severe disease — they should get vaccinated."

Wellstar itself has opened two centers devoted to administering pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, following the October authorization of vaccines for children aged 5 to 11.

Located in the provider's east Cobb and Acworth locations, the operation kicked off the weekend of Nov. 5 and has thus far scheduled over 2,000 appointments through January, Wellstar said in a news release.

"We are incredibly excited by the high demand and interest in pediatric vaccinations and proud of the families who have taken the important step to vaccinate their children to offer some of our youngest patients protection against COVID," Dr. Avril Beckford, chief pediatric officer for Wellstar, said.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine in October. The most significant difference for children is the limited dosage, receiving about 1/3 the amount of vaccine as their adult counterparts.

Doyle said while the "emergency use" moniker has led to some confusion, parents should know exactly what it means. The emergency authorization focuses on the most important parts of the trial process: safety and effectiveness, he said.

In fact, Doyle said, clinical trials have shown the vaccine is even safer for children, with zero cases of long-term or serious side effects reported. Anecdotally from his patients, he's also heard the typical side effects — sore arms and lethargy — aren't as pronounced in children.

The vaccine rollout for children has moved slowly thus far. Less than 9% of children ages 5 to 9 in Georgia have received at least one dose, according to the Department of Public Health.

Doyle stressed the need to ramp up vaccinations as cold and flu season, along with the holidays, arrive. With the potential for another COVID-19 surge, he's urging vaccinated kids and their parents not to throw caution to the wind. Masks and social distancing should still be used in crowded indoor spaces.

Little is known about how the omicron variant will interact with children or vaccines, Doyle added, but "the key is to decrease the amount of opportunities the disease has to circulate in the community.

"The more people who are vaccinated, the less and less likely it is to have an outbreak of any version of COVID — including omicron," he said.

Doyle's seen a decent share of hesitancy and skepticism from parents, but he's taking pains to address their specific concerns and questions, and walk them through the process.

"I think parents are understandably concerned, in the sense that as a parent, you're responsible for the lifelong health of your child," he said. "And this is something new ... and new sometimes makes us nervous, and I think that's understandable. I think we can all relate to that."