11/17/2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Questions

Currently COVID-19 Vaccines are available from certain Pharmaceutical  companies for children 5 years and older.  Many of our patients are asking about whether they should receive vaccination or note.

While previously considered low risk we are seeing a significant increase in the number of children with more severe illness due to COVID-19.  Additionally children are much more likely to develop a unique complication called MIS-C (Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children).  This is a serious illness that develops about 1 month after exposure to COVID-19 and effects multiple organs, including the heart.  Children are often very sick during this illness .  Unfortunately this complication seems to arise even if your initial infection with COVID-19 was mild.  Because of the risk of complications to your heart with both COVID-19 and MIS-C we are currently recommending vaccination.  

There have been concerns about a complication of the COVID-19 vaccine reported called myocarditis or pericarditis.  This is inflammation of the heart as a reaction to the vaccine.  This is a very rare finding, averaging 54 cases per million doses when looking at 12-17 year olds.  The risks for MIS-C and severe COVID-19 infection remain higher than this risk by a significant degree.  

While fatigue, muscle pain, fever, and. chill are common after vaccination if your child develops chest pain within 3-5 days of vaccination we recommend they be evaluated.

If you have questions about vaccines please call our office for more information.  

Here at Tri-City Pediatric Cardiology we are doing our part to keep everyone safe by having all patients and families wear face masks during our visits, just as all our staff do.We are trying to keep the number of patients in clinic limited and avoid them from coming into contact with other families.

We appreciate your help in keeping us all safe and your understanding during this time.