UT Health San Antonio is now offering the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently authorized the vaccine for this new age group.
This means that 28 million U.S. children are now eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine.
“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our community’s and our nation’s fight against the virus that causes COVID-19,” said Robert Leverence, MD, Chief Medical Officer for UT Health Physicians. “We encourage parents with questions to talk to their pediatricians, school nurses or local pharmacists — or our pediatric specialists — to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting children vaccinated.”
UT Health San Antonio pediatrician Tess Barton, MD, who has a subspecialty in pediatric infectious disease, answers common questions about the vaccine in this article.
To have a child vaccinated, a parent, legal guardian or authorized representative must accompany the child throughout the vaccine appointment at UT Health San Antonio. Appointments for children and adults can be scheduled now by visiting COVID-19 Vaccination Scheduling.