HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Children under 5 are the latest candidates for the COVID-19 vaccine. Now that the shot is available for all virtually Americans, it's changing the conversation between doctors and parents.
For nearly two years, Americans have faced the choice whether or not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Now, can decide for their children 5 and under.
"I do think it’s interesting how they keep lowering the age and I don’t necessarily know if that’s due to availability or if they need to do further research, but I do find that interesting," says parent Danielle Andrews.
Andrews is vaccinated but says she's already made the decision about her 1-year-old son, but that could change down the line.
"There's too many unknowns still with him, like he's still developing, what are his allergies, things like that, taste buds all of that. I think easily as he got older, probably around the five-year threshold," the mom explained.
Dr. Lance Slade with Primary Pediatrics says for some parents, the conversations about the COVID-19 vaccine are changing.
"It's funny because anytime something's new, you have a lot of hesitancy like, 'I don't know about this, let someone else go first.' Then you have other people that are like, 'Hey, let's go first thing,' and sometimes it may be based on your personal experience," the doctor explained.
Slade says with the latest age group, the two-shot dosage remains the same and so do most possible side effects like soreness in the shot area, fever, and chills.
He says calls have increased at his office, soon adding to the millions of older children already vaccinated.
"As time has gone on, I think the COVID vaccine has become more comfortable for a lot of folks. I think there's 23 million children in the U.S. that have had both doses. There's also 26 million kids that have not had any when it comes to statistics of those older kids, so you're looking at a very split country," Slade said.
More than two million doses for the age group have been delivered around the U.S.
For more information on the vaccine, visit cdc.gov or speak to your child's doctor.