Here’s why doctors recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for tweens and teens 12 years and above! Parental concerns addressed.
Latest Recommendation from Dr. Paul Offit, September 29, 2023
TL;DR on whether you need boosters - If you have received 3 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 2 doses of the vaccine and natural infection (also called hybrid immunity), you are likely to be protected against severe disease if you are healthy and young. Scroll down this page to see Dr. Paul Offit's video. Click here to read the CDC recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine.
If you haven't yet taken the COVID-19 vaccine, read why doctors recommend it
TL;DR - The vaccine was not rushed. Safety in trials was not compromised. Risk from COVID-19 is far greater than any side effects from the vaccine itself. Teens are at risk for catching long-term COVID complications. Also, teen deaths are not zero. Teens have died.
Dr. Angela Dangvu, Pediatrician - Safety Information about Pfizer vaccine
Is the vaccine safe for teens and kids? Are there other risks for teenagers and children that might not be present for adults?
The Pfizer vaccine is absolutely safe for children ages 12-15 years and teens ages 16 years and older. In clinical trials, enough teens and children participated to show that the vaccine is safe for 12-year-olds and older. We have no reason to expect that children would tolerate the vaccine less favorably than adults would.
Dr. Gretchen LaSalle, Family Physician
I am a parent to two teenage boys, ages 14 and 17. They are back to in-person school. Both are involved in band...And my oldest is headed back to school sports (including basketball, with its indoor location and its up close, in-your-face contact)...I don’t worry as much about letting them get back to the activities that they love. They will be protected from serious harm. And they will be less likely to spread COVID to their friends or family members, some of whom are older or have immune compromising conditions.
As a doctor and a mother, I wouldn’t recommend anything for your child that I wouldn’t do for my own. Our children are our most precious possessions (not really possessions but you get my drift). I make the choice to vaccinate my children against COVID and all other vaccine-preventable diseases because I know the risk of the disease is SO much greater than any extremely rare risk of the immunization itself.
Well, there you have it. My advice? Vaccinate your teens and pre-teens. Vaccinations protect our health and our wondrous human potential. And they will be the fastest path back to some semblance of normalcy in our children’s lives.
Video: Dr. Paul Offit on parent concerns for vaccinating 12-15 year-olds | COVID-19 Update for May 17, 2021
Original post: May 31, 2021
Page updated: October 31, 2023
DISCLAIMER: Information on this page is for educational purposes only. Decisions about vaccinations, doses must be made with your doctor and not based on the information presented on this page.