We launch the first podcast episode of the Pediatric Pharmacist Review, with our host Dr. Allison Chung, PharmD & Pediatric Critical Care Pharmacist, BCPPS Certified at University of South Alabama Health. 

Guest: Dr. Benjamin Estrada

Topic: COVID 19 vaccines in pediatrics: 

• How the different COVID vaccines work.
• Current information and research on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in pediatric patients.
• Has it been tested to the same extent that other vaccines are tested on children?
• Will the COVID vaccine recommendations include patients younger than 14? When do we think this will happen?
• What do you say to people who understand that younger patients are less likely to get COVID and less severe symptoms so therefore do not want their children to receive the vaccine?
• Long term affects of the COVID vaccine on children. Any potential for autism or infertility?
• Risk vs benefit of COVID vaccine vs getting COVID in children. Many people feel the risk of getting the vaccine is worse because the risk for COVID in children is less and severity of COVID symptoms are less than adults.
• Suggestions for how pharmacists can encourage vaccination in the pediatric population.

At the F.D.A.’s urging, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are expanding their trials for children 5 to 11.

NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/us/politics/fda-covid-vaccine-trials-children.html

At the urging of federal regulators, two coronavirus vaccine makers are expanding the size of their clinical trials for children ages 5 to 11 — a precautionary measure designed to detect rare side effects including heart inflammation problems that turned up in vaccinated people younger than 30.

President Biden promised at a meeting in Ohio last week that emergency clearance for pediatric vaccines would come “soon,” but the White House has not been specific on the timeline. It was unclear whether expanding the studies will affect when vaccines could be authorized for children.

The Food and Drug Administration has indicated to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that the size and scope of their pediatric studies, as initially envisioned, were inadequate to detect rare side effects. Those include myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around the heart, multiple people familiar with the trials said.

Questions about vaccinating children — including those under 12 — are of huge interest to parents and teachers. Regulators will be required to balance potential side effects of coronavirus vaccination against the risks of Covid-19.