Should children get the Covid vaccine?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends COVID-19 vaccines for everyone 6 months and older, and boosters for everyone 5 and older.

Can COVID-19 vaccines affect the heart of children?

Can COVID vaccines affect the heart? Hansen: For most kids, the vaccine will have no effect on their heart. But health officials are monitoring very rare occurrences of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination.

Are healthy children 5 to 11 years old eligible for a COVID-19 booster vaccine?

The CDC recommends that children should get a booster dose five months after finishing their primary COVID-19 vaccination series of two shots.

Does the COVID-19 vaccine reduce the risk of getting "Long COVID"?

Reseach is showing that people who are vaccinated, even with just one dose, tend to have lower rates of long COVID-19 after catching the virus than those who are unvaccinated.

Why should my children and teens get vaccinated against COVID-19?

COVID-19 can make children and teens very sick and sometimes requires treatment in a hospital. Getting eligible children and teens vaccinated against COVID-19 can help keep them from getting really sick if they do get COVID-19, including protecting them from short and long-term complications and hospitalization. Vaccinating children can also help keep them in school or daycare and safely participating in sports, playdates, and other group activities.

The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks. CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get vaccinated against COVID-19. Everyone ages 12 years and older should also get a COVID-19 booster shot.

Ask a Doctor: Why Should Children Get a COVID-19 Vaccine?

What is the benefit of the COVID-19 vaccine for children?

COVID-19 vaccination can help protect your child from getting COVID-19. Although fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 compared to adults, children can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, can get sick from COVID-19, and can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others.

Why should I get vaccinated against COVID-19?

Why should I get vaccinated if I might get COVID-19 anyway? COVID-19 vaccination significantly lowers your risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death if you get infected.

How many times can I get COVID-19?

'A long-term pattern' According to some infectious disease researchers, Covid-19 reinfections are likely to become more common as time goes on and different variants continue to circulate—with some people potentially seeing third or fourth reinfections within a year.

Should you get the COVID-19 vaccine if you already had COVID-19 and recovered?

If I already had COVID-19 and recovered, do I still need to get a COVID-19 vaccine? You should get a COVID-19 vaccine even if you already had COVID-19. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection to your immune system.

How long could the COVID-19 virus linger in your body?

But for most infected people, virus levels in the body peak between three and six days after the original infection, and the immune system clears the pathogen within 10 days. The virus shed after this period is generally not infectious.

Should children get the COVID-19 booster?

Getting Children Vaccinated. Should children get a COVID-19 booster? Everyone ages 5 years and older should get a COVID-19 booster, when eligible. Children ages 12 and older who have a weakened immune system should also get a 2nd booster, when eligible.

Who should get a COVID-19 booster?

Everyone ages 5 years and older should get 1 booster after completing their COVID-19 vaccine primary series.

Who can get Paxlovid?

The FDA has authorized Paxlovid for anyone age 12+ who is at high risk for developing a severe case of COVID-19.

Can COVID-19 cause heart problems in children?

In general, children who get sick with the coronavirus do not have serious problems as often as adults do. But a very rare complication of COVID-19 called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, can cause serious heart damage, cardiogenic shock or death.

What are the possible rare heart complications after COVID-19, in children?

While heart complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection are uncommon in children, some experience abnormal heart rhythm, inflammation in and around the heart muscle or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a new condition identified during the pandemic.

Can COVID-19 vaccine cause myocarditis?

Myocarditis is a rare adverse event associated with receipt of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines; the overall reporting rates of myocarditis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination were highest among males aged <18 years (5).

Can you get COVID-19 if you already had it and have antibodies?

It is important to remember that some people with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 may become infected after vaccination (vaccine breakthrough infection) or after recovering from a past infection (reinfected).

Can you still test positive after recovering from COVID-19?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some people who contract COVID-19 can have detectable virus for up to three months, but that doesn't mean they are contagious. When it comes to testing, however, the PCR tests are more likely to continue picking up the virus following infection.

Is it recommended to get the COVID-19 vaccine for previously infected individuals?

Although both previous infection and vaccination were found to significantly protect against COVID-19 infection, vaccination in previously infected individuals provided additional protection against symptomatic COVID-19 only among those who received the vaccine several months after the initial onset of the disease.

How long does COVID-19 rebound last?

So far there have been no reports of severe illness in those who have experienced covid rebound, and most people seem to recover and stop testing positive around three days later without needing additional covid-19 treatment.

How strong is immunity after a COVID-19 infection?

How Strong Is Immunity After a COVID-19 Infection? About 90% of people develop some number of protective antibodies after a COVID-19 infection, according to the CDC. But how high those levels climb appears to be all over the map.

Does your immune system get stronger after COVID-19?

Any time you catch a virus and recover from the illness, you retain antibodies. These antibodies help your body fight off future infections so that you either don't get sick or have milder symptoms.

Is it safe to get the COVID-19 vaccine?

Yes. All currently authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and CDC does not recommend one vaccine over another. The most important decision is to get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible.

What would a COVID-19 vaccine do?

A vaccine forces your immune system to make antibodies against a specific disease, usually with a dead or weakened form of the germs. Then, if you come into contact with them again, your immune system knows what to do.

Is the COVID-19 vaccine effective?

COVID-19 vaccines are effective, but studies have shown vaccine protection declines over time especially with the Omicron variant. Learn more about getting a booster shot to enhance or restore protection against COVID-19.