FAQ

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Getting the COVID-19 vaccine (children)

My child had COVID-19. Do they still need to get vaccinated?
People who have had COVID-19 should still get vaccinated. This is because not everyone develops a strong immune response (protection) after having COVID-19. Vaccination is the best way to help develop immunity and provides more reliable protection than COVID-19.
 
Children can wait 3-6 months from when their symptoms started (or from when they tested positive if they had no symptoms) for their booster dose. Check with your health care provider if you have questions.
 
 
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How can I help support a child who is afraid of needles?
 
You can also contact your local health unit and ask to speak with a public health nurse about supports available in your area. 

 

CARDTM System

You can also use the CARD system - Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract to help your child find their preferred way to prepare for the vaccine. Check out the CARD Game for Kids and other activities on Immunize Canada. 
 
 
 
 

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Can children get the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as other childhood vaccinations?
Yes. The COVID-19 vaccine can be given at the same time or any time before or after any other childhood vaccinations including the flu shot.
 

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How can I register my child to get vaccinated?

You can register your child to get vaccinated with the Get Vaccinated System. You can register online or by phone. After you register, you will receive a text, email, or phone call when it's your turn to book a vaccine appointment. 

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How can I explain how the COVID-19 vaccination works to my children?

Explain that the vaccine helps make sure they don’t get sick by quickly fighting off the virus that causes COVID-19. The vaccine is so powerful that it even helps to protect the people around them, including their family and friends. Kids Boost Immunity has videos that explain more. 

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COVID-19 vaccine dose & schedule (children)

Will children aged 5 to 11 get the same dose as youth and adults?

No. Children aged five to 11 will get a smaller dose. The smaller dose works well because children have stronger immune responses than youth and adults. This means they can get a similar level of protection with a smaller dose.  The smaller dose may also mean a lower frequency of common reactions, such as redness and swelling at the injection site.

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Risks of COVID-19 infection & benefits of vaccination (children)

What are the risks of COVID-19 infection in children aged 5 to 11? Isn’t it usually a mild disease in children?
While most children who get COVID-19 have a mild illness, some children can get very sick. The chance of getting very sick is higher for children who are not fully vaccinated or have certain medical conditions.
 
Children who get COVID-19: 
 
  • Can get a severe lung infection and heart issues like myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle).
  • Are at risk of developing a serious but rare condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). MIS-C is caused by an exaggerated immune response, leading to severe widespread inflammation. It can happen several weeks after infection and usually requires hospitalization. Most children in Canada who have had this condition have fully recovered with treatment. 
  •  May continue to feel sick weeks or months after the initial illness. This is called Post-COVID-19 condition or “long COVID”. Early studies suggest that "long COVID" is less common in children and young people than adults. 
Vaccinating children can also help protect others, including family members and those most at risk. Vaccination can also make it less likely that children will miss out on important activities, like school, sports, and social events.

 

In this video, BC Children’s Hospital Infectious Disease Pediatric Physician Dr. Manish Sadarangani discusses severe COVID-19 infection in children. 

 

 

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I heard that children and teens don’t transmit the COVID-19 virus to others. So how does my child or teen getting vaccinated help protect others?
Just like adults, children and teens can transmit (spread) COVID-19 to others. 
 
  • Early in the pandemic, children and teens were not often identified as spreaders of COVID-19. However, this was mostly because schools and activities were closed or not held in person.
  • Since things have opened up again, outbreaks among teens at camps, sporting events, and schools show that teens spread COVID-19.
  • Further, studies that looked at the risk of children and teens spreading COVID-19 to others in their households showed that they do spread the virus.
  • Children and teens can spread COVID-19 to others when they do not have symptoms.
Vaccination reduces the risk of children and teens getting COVID-19 and spreading it to others. 
 
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COVID-19 vaccine safety (children)

Are mRNA COVID-19 vaccines safe for children 5 to 11 years of age?
mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children 5 - 11 years of age. There is a very strict process to test and approve vaccines in Canada. Health Canada only approves a vaccine if the data from clinical trials show the vaccine is safe and effective and that the vaccine's benefits outweigh any risks. 
 
Clinical trials looked at the immune response, safety, and effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in children.
 
  • The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was tested in children 5 to 11 years of age.
  • The Moderna vaccine was tested in children 6 to 11 years of age.
In the clinical trials:
 
  • No safety issues were detected.
  • The vaccines were shown to provide very good protection against COVID-19 in the 2 months after vaccination.
After a vaccine is approved for use, its safety is continuously monitored. Millions of children have safely received the pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Canada and worldwide. The evidence continues to demonstrate that:
 
  • The vaccine is safe.
  • The vaccine is effective against severe outcomes.
  • The vaccine has known and potential risks that can be treated.
  • Serious side effects continue to be very rare.

Very rarely people have experienced myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the lining around the heart) following vaccination with a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

  • The rate of cases in younger children is much lower. In the US, this occurred at a rate of about 2.7 cases per 1,000,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine in males 5-11 years of age.
  • Typically, this condition has been mild to moderate. People have recovered with or without treatment.
  • The risk of myocarditis is much greater following COVID-19 infection than following vaccination.

The known risks of COVID-19 illness outweigh the potential risk of having a serious side effect following vaccination. 

Learn more about how vaccine safety is monitored in Canada.

In this video, Dr. Julia Orkin, pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto & Medical Lead for the SickKids COVID-19 Vaccine Consult Service, answers the question: How can anyone be sure a vaccine developed so quickly is safe? 

In the video below, BC Children’s Hospital Infectious Disease Pediatric Physician Dr. Manish Sadarangani discusses how mRNA vaccines have been researched for decades. 

 

 

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Can mRNA vaccines cause myocarditis and pericarditis?
Rare cases of inflammation of the heart (myocarditis and pericarditis) have been reported after getting the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In Canada, this has occurred at a rate of about 1.7 cases per 100,000 doses of Moderna vaccine and 1.1 cases per 100,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for older children and adults.
 

Cases are seen more often after the second dose and in males 12-29 years of age. The rate of cases in males 18-29 years of age after the second dose are about 5 times higher with the Moderna vaccine compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The rate of cases in younger children is much lower. In the US, this occurred at a rate of about 2.7 cases per 1,000,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine in males 5-11 years of age. Rates for children 6 months to less than 5 years of age are unknown at this time. It is expected that cases will be very rare and rates will be lower than the rates for those older than 5 years of age.

Typically, this condition has been mild to moderate. People have recovered with or without treatment. The risk of myocarditis is much greater following COVID-19 infection than following vaccination.
 
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I heard that the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine has caused serious side effects and death in young children. Is this true?

The two pediatric mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 to 11 years of age were shown to be safe in clinical trials. We also have real-world data as millions of children have safely received the pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Vaccine.  Vaccine safety monitoring shows that:

  • The mRNA pediatric vaccines are safe.
  • Side effects are mostly mild.
  • Serious side effects are rare.
While there have been reports of death in young children following COVID-19 vaccination in the US, there is no evidence that the vaccine caused the deaths. 
 
  • A vaccine’s safety is continuously monitored after approval through the reporting of adverse events (an adverse event is an unexpected medical event that happens after vaccination that may or may not have been caused by the vaccine). 
  • A report of a death or other adverse event following vaccination does not mean that the vaccine caused it.
  • All reports of adverse events are investigated to determine if the event was caused by the vaccine or by something else that happened around the same time the vaccine was given.
  • The reporting of adverse events helps keep vaccines safe and helps ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh any risks. 
  • For a vaccination program to continue, the benefits of the vaccine must outweigh any known or potential risks.

Learn more about how vaccine safety is monitored.

In the video below, BC Children’s Hospital Infectious Disease Pediatric Physician Dr. Manish Sadarangani discusses how there has been no concern around significant adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination in children ages 5-11.

 

 

 
In this video, Dr. Julia Orkin, pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto & Medical Lead for the SickKids COVID-19 Vaccine Consult Service, answers the question: What are the most common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine in children?

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Can the spike proteins generated by the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines cause harm?
There is no evidence that vaccine-generated spike proteins are harmful. 
 
  • The mRNA vaccines work by teaching our cells how to make a harmless spike protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. The body then makes antibodies to help you fight infection if the COVID-19 virus enters your body.
  • Some people are concerned that the spike proteins generated by COVID-19 vaccines can cause harm to the body’s organs or tissues. However, there is no evidence that the vaccine-generated spike proteins cause harm. 
  • COVID-19 infection, however, can damage many organs and tissues. It is important to focus on the right risk.
  • The vaccine-generated spike proteins don't last long in the body; the immune system quickly identifies, attacks, and destroys them.
  • Scientists estimate that the spike proteins, like other proteins our bodies create, may stay in the body for up to a few weeks.
Want to know more about this?
 
 
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Are there long-term side effects of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in children?
The medical and scientific community is confident in the long-term safety of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for several reasons:
 
  • The history of vaccines shows that delayed effects after vaccination can happen. But when they do, these effects tend to happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine. This is why regulators in Canada and many other countries require at least eight weeks of safety data before approving a vaccine. The vaccines have now been in use for months, with over 2.7 billion doses given worldwide.
     
  • This is not new vaccine technology. The mRNA vaccines have been in development for many years and have been studied before for flu, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV). In addition, cancer research has used mRNA to trigger the immune system to target specific cancer cells. Years of studying mRNA vaccines has shown no long-term side effects.
     
  • Canada’s vaccine safety system has proven time and again that the data necessary to get through the approval process is sufficient to prove safety, even for the long term. The end data and safety tests for the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines met the same standards as other vaccines that have been approved in Canada. 
When considering long-term risks, a COVID-19 infection is a much more serious concern. 

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Can mRNA COVID-19 vaccines alter a person’s DNA?
 
  • Location – mRNA is active in the cytoplasm of a cell, whereas DNA is protected in the cell’s nucleus. The mRNA CANNOT enter the nucleus, so the two nucleic acids are never in the same place in the cell.
     
  • Process – mRNA is not DNA. So if a person’s DNA were going to be altered, the RNA would have to be made into DNA. This would require a special enzyme that only exists in some viruses. Coronaviruses are not one of them, as they have only single-stranded RNA, which means that when they enter into a cell’s cytoplasm, they don’t need to be translated. Proteins (like the spike protein) can be made directly from the RNA.
     
  • Stability — mRNA is not very stable. Its half-life in human cells is estimated in hours. For purposes of mRNA-based therapies, modifications have been developed to keep the molecule in cells long enough to allow for the therapy to be successful. But even with this, the mRNA will not lead to protein production for more than 10-14 days.
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COVID-19 vaccine & reproductive health (children)

Can COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility?
Millions of people have received an mRNA vaccine in Canada and around the world. Data has shown no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems. 
 
In this video, Dr. Julia Orkin, pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto & Medical Lead for the SickKids COVID-19 Vaccine Consult Service, answers the question: Can the COVID-19 vaccine affect puberty or fertility in children?
 

In this video, Dr. Paul Offit from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia explains why infertility is not a concern following COVID-19 or receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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