COVID Vaccine FAQs

Children’s Colorado has developed many resources to support families and community members during the pandemic. Read what we know about COVID-19 in children.

In June 2022, the Food and Drug Administration and CDC expanded the age groups for both Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines. Both vaccines are now available for children as young as 6 months.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were proven to be safe and effective in children 6 months and older. Both vaccines use mRNA technology, but there are differences in the number of doses and schedules.

COVID-19 vaccine doses and schedules for children under 5 

Pfizer

• Pfizer's vaccine for kids younger than 5 is one-tenth (1/10) of the dose for people 12 and older, or 3 micrograms.
• 3 shots are needed: the first 2 are given 3 weeks apart and the last at least 2 months later.

Moderna

• Moderna’s vaccine for kids under 5 is one-quarter (¼) of the adult dose, or 25 micrograms.  
• 2 shots are needed, approximately 4 weeks apart. 

Doctors recommend choosing whichever vaccine is easiest to obtain for your child.

The COVID-19 vaccines have gone through each step of the usual process required to understand the safety and effectiveness of any new vaccine. Separate studies were done in adolescents, school-age children, and babies and preschoolers to make sure the vaccine is safe and effective in kids as well as adults.

Thanks to these rigorous studies, both Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for children as young as 6 months. The emergency authorization and official recommendation by CDC show that the vaccine is safe and effective in children and that the benefits of the vaccine’s protection outweigh the risks. Getting the vaccine helps keep children safe and protected from the risks of COVID-19.

We encourage you to read the FDA’s announcements in full, which include data about the evaluation of safety and effectiveness in kids, as well as information about ongoing safety monitoring.

FDA announcements:

• EUA of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 and older (May 2021)
• FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine in people 16 and older (August 2021)
• EUA of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 (October 2021)
• EUA of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children down to 6 months old

In the video below, pediatrician Daniel Nicklas, MD, explains why he trusts the vaccine authorization process.

There is a dangerous misconception that COVID-19 is not serious for kids. However, children are getting sick with COVID-19 – some sick enough to need care in the hospital – and they need protection.

Even children who have mild COVID-19 illness miss out on school, may experience lingering symptoms (long COVID) and may be at risk for a rare but serious inflammatory condition that can affect the heart (multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C). Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect people of all ages from becoming severely ill or having long-lasting health impacts due to the virus. 

Getting your child the vaccine as soon as they’re eligible:

• Lowers their risk of getting infected with COVID-19
• Lowers their risk of getting MIS-C
• Keeps them from getting seriously sick if they do get COVID-19 
• Keeps them from spreading COVID-19 to others, including family members who are at high risk of getting very sick or dying from the virus

Medical and public health experts, including at the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Colorado, recommend that all eligible children and adolescents get the COVID-19 vaccine to help protect them from contracting and spreading the virus.  

In the video below, pediatric emergency medicine specialist Lalit Bajaj, MD, explains what he's been seeing in Children's Colorado's emergency departments during the pandemic.

Most children who are infected by COVID-19 are asymptomatic, meaning they don’t have any symptoms, or they have mild symptoms. In rare cases, though, there are two reasons some children get very sick.

“One is just a really bad COVID-19 infection that occurs during what we call an acute — or sudden — infection,” says Dr. Dominguez. “The other is a new condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, which usually occurs 2 to 6 weeks after the infection.”

Cases of COVID-19 continue to ebb and flow. But when COVID-19 case counts increase, experts expect an increase in MIS-C, Dr. Dominguez says. Although MIS-C is rare, parents should be aware of the symptoms. The best way to prevent MIS-C is to take recommended precautions against COVID-19.

Yes. Getting your child vaccinated is the best way to protect them from a severe COVID-19 infection. When transmission in your area is high — even if they are fully vaccinated — children age 2 and older should continue wearing a mask to school and in indoor public spaces.

For babies under 6 months old who are not eligible to be vaccinated (and for newly eligible children while they build up immunity between doses), surrounding them with vaccinated children, adolescents and adults is one of the most powerful ways to keep them protected from the virus.

Keeping up with additional layers of protection, including getting tested when sick and having children ages 2 and up wear masks indoors, also enhances protection for little ones.

COVID-19 vaccine side effects in children are similar to side effects in adults. Most expected side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines are related to the injection site such as pain, redness and swelling. Less common side effects are fever, tiredness or swelling of the glands. These go away within several days and are not dangerous. Many people report stronger side effects after the second dose.

Please talk to your doctor if you have questions or concerns about side effects.

Serious reactions to the vaccine are rare. Some side effects from vaccines are expected, and it means that the immune system is working. Most expected side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines are related to the injection site such as pain, redness and swelling. These go away within several days.

More significant side effects from the immune response include fever, tiredness or swelling of the glands. These side effects are not as common but are expected in some individuals. These are signs that your immune system has been activated and is starting to build a defense against the virus. Many people who have received both doses report stronger side effects after the second dose. Please speak with your doctor if you have questions or concerns about side effects.

Severe adverse reactions like anaphylaxis are very rare. Remember that hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. and billions around the world have been vaccinated safely. We can expect to hear some reports of the very few who have experienced more severe reactions, though most people receiving the COVID-19 vaccines do not experience any severe side effects.

You can look up side effects and the rare serious safety events with suggested links to COVID-19 vaccination via the CDC to see the data and learn why the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination continue to outweigh the known and potential risks.

While you should remain aware of side effects, remember that severe adverse reactions are very uncommon. In the rare event that you believe you may be experiencing a more severe reaction, contact your medical provider for advice. If you experience any symptoms that indicate a life- or limb-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

The risk of a child having a serious adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is very low. One rare complication that has been linked to the COVID-19 vaccine is myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) or pericarditis (inflammation of the sac around the heart). These reports have been more common in people under 30 who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, including adolescents and young adults. The CDC continues to evaluate reports of myocarditis closely to better understand the association between the vaccine and heart issues. 

The evidence shows that there is a higher risk for heart inflammation among younger males. However, reports of these complications are rare. In fact, we know that the risk of developing myocarditis after a COVID-19 infection is much higher than the risk of developing myocarditis after the vaccine, including among teenage boys and young men. 

Getting vaccinated remains the best way to protect you and your family from COVID-19. If you have questions about how to protect your children from COVID-19, about the vaccines, or about myocarditis, speak to your child's pediatrician. You can also learn the latest data about myocarditis after vaccination from the CDC.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Edwin Asturias, MD, explains what we know in this video:

Current data show that reports of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination are slightly more than expected in the population, but very rare. In fact, the risk of developing myocarditis after a COVID-19 infection is much higher than the risk of developing myocarditis after the vaccine. 

Research shows that more than three times as many people developed heart inflammation after contracting COVID-19 than after receiving the vaccines to protect against the virus. According to a study that included more than 800,000 people and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2021, there were 2.7 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 vaccinated people, compared to 11 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 people infected with COVID-19.

“These data show that a young person's risk of myocarditis is higher if they get COVID than it is if they get vaccinated. Also, post-vaccine myocarditis cases have been very mild, whereas COVID-associated heart involvement has been more severe,” says Dr. Brumbaugh. “It’s understandable to have concerns about these reports, but keep in mind that myocarditis can be caused by a number of viral infections, including COVID itself.” The CDC continues to recommend the mRNA vaccines given the risk of long-term complications from the coronavirus itself. 

Though these reports are understandably concerning to many parents, it helps to put it all in context.

“The good news is that our systems worked – we found this side effect,” says pediatric infectious disease expert Samuel Dominguez, MD, PhD. “We've been able to quantify it and understand the risks around it. But overall, these vaccines have proven to be remarkably safe in the general public.”

Here are additional numbers to help put everything in context:

• As of April 2022, more than 50 million people under age 30 (that's 50,000,000+) in the United States have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
• As of February 24, 2022, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) had received 2,261 preliminary reports of myocarditis or pericarditis among people ages 30 and younger who received COVID-19 vaccine.
• Most cases have been reported after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer or Moderna), particularly in male adolescents and young adults.
• Through follow-up investigations, the CDC and FDA have confirmed 1,328 reports of myocarditis or pericarditis.
• The CDC and its partners are investigating these reports to assess whether there is a relationship to COVID-19 vaccination. 

CDC continues to evaluate reports of myocarditis closely to understand the association between the vaccine and heart issues. You can see the data and learn about adverse events reported after COVID-19 vaccination on their website.

With any medical treatment like surgery or medication, including all vaccines, doctors compare the known and potential risks to the known and potential benefits. Medical experts recommend the COVID-19 vaccines because the benefits from vaccination far outweigh the risks, including for recent reports of myocarditis. Myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare, and when it does happen, children have relatively mild disease and improve quickly with minimal treatment. Conversely, there are known serious risks and still many unknown risks of contracting COVID-19.

Serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination are rare but can occur. If you have concerns about your child getting the COVID-19 vaccine, speak with their pediatrician.

Pregnant people have a higher risk of getting COVID-19 and are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease. We now know that getting sick with COVID-19 during pregancy is associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications, including preterm delivery (premature birth for the baby). Getting the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy helps protect you from getting very sick with COVID-19.

The American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and CDC strongly recommend that pregnant patients get the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are pregnant and have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines, talk to your OBGYN.

In the video below, pediatrician Lisa DeCamp, MD, answers this question.

There is growing amount of data about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people who are pregnant. Here’s what we know: 

• Pregnant and recently pregnant people are more likely to get severely ill with COVID-19 compared with non-pregnant people.
• COVID-19 infection during pregnancy is associated with pregnancy complications, including preterm (early) delivery.
• Recent data show that women who received the vaccine in pregnancy and their babies are protected from COVID-19. (Antibodies that fight COVID have been found in umbilical cord blood.) 
• Studies have shown that breastfeeding people who have gotten the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer or Moderna) have antibodies in their breastmilk, which could help protect their babies. More research is needed to find out what level of protection these antibodies in breastmilk can give babies.
• Our country’s strong vaccine safety monitoring systems have yet to find any safety concerns for pregnant people who got a COVID-19 vaccine or for their babies.
• COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe. The small risk of miscarriage appears to be the same for vaccinated and unvaccinated women. 

The scientific evidence we have shows that the benefits of getting a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy outweigh the risks. This is why medical experts from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and CDC recommend that pregnant or breastfeeding people get the COVID-19 vaccine.

• We are still learning how long the vaccines protect people and how well they work against new variants.
• You may have mild side effects – some of the side effects that have been reported are sore arm, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, or fever.

Learn more about COVID-19 and pregnancy and breastfeeding from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

• The COVID-19 vaccines are very effective; they will prevent most COVID-19 infections.
• Getting vaccinated will help protect people around you, including children who are not yet old enough to get the vaccine.

People who are trying to become pregnant now or who want children in the future can get the COVID-19 vaccine. There is currently no evidence that any vaccine, including any COVID-19 vaccine, causes problems with fertility or trying to get pregnant. Studies have shown that people who received the COVID-19 vaccine had the same fertility outcomes as people who were not vaccinated, including among people who needed more help getting pregnant (with in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, for example).

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for people who would like to have a baby from CDC.

Because the delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus spread more easily, we’ve seen many more “breakthrough infections” where someone who is fully vaccinated gets sick with COVID-19. For those who do get an infection even though they have been vaccinated, the vaccines are still very effective at preventing severe cases that require hospitalization, and deaths.

Medical experts are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 infections after vaccination, or "breakthrough" cases. As we continue to gather scientific data, experts will continue to refine the vaccine recommendations. In the coming months, expect to hear more about timing of doses, timing of booster shots, and additional doses for vulnerable groups – efforts that will enhance the already remarkable protection of authorized vaccines.

Learn more and see the latest COVID vaccine effectiveness data from CDC.

There are a few reasons why people who are vaccinated continue to get COVID-19:

1. No vaccine is 100% effective at preventing infection, and new highly contagious variants delta and omicron have led to breakthrough infections among vaccinated people.
2. The level of protection from the vaccine may decrease over time, leading to less protection against the virus. It’s important to note that reduced protection of vaccines over time is normal and timing depends on both the vaccine and the type of virus. For example, experts recommend getting the flu shot every year because the influenza virus changes from year to year and because immunity decreases over time.
3. Ultimately, as the total number of vaccinated people increases, the pool of unvaccinated people gets smaller. This means that — proportionally — more cases will be among the vaccinated.

While vaccines are developed in part to prevent infection, the main goal of vaccines is to prevent severe illness or death. It's very good news that the COVID-19 vaccines continue to be highly effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death. Booster doses can provide even stronger protection.

Also remember that when COVID-19 cases rise, breakthrough infections among vaccinated individuals are significantly more likely to be mild cases, while unvaccinated people who become infected are more likely to become severely ill or require hospitalization. 

It's never too late to protect yourself or your children against COVID-19. If you haven't gotten the COVID vaccine yet, it is still worthwhile. If you and your children have been vaccinated, be sure you keep in touch with your doctor so you can get a booster if and when you are eligible.

The omicron variant does not cause more severe illness in children compared to previous variants. Doctors are closely monitoring how omicron affects children and will know even more soon. However, the omicron variant spreads rapidly, which has led to record-breaking case counts, including pediatric cases.

When the total number of children with COVID-19 increases, hospitalizations also rise, even if the proportion of infections leading to hospitalization remains small. Lower vaccination and booster rates among children compared to adults may contribute to increased cases and hospitalizations in children.

The protection against disease that vaccines provide may start to decrease (or wane) over time. In these cases, a booster dose may be needed to help the body’s immune system and increase protection. 

While the COVID-19 vaccines continue to be remarkably effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death, newer data from the U.S. and around the world show that some people need a booster to maintain the vaccine’s maximum effectiveness in preventing infection.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Edwin Asturias, MD, discusses booster shots in the video below.

Please see the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine booster shot guidance or talk with your doctor to learn about timing and additional doses.

Yes. If your child had a known COVID-19 exposure, they should quarantine and only get vaccinated once their quarantine period has ended. This precaution prevents your child from potentially exposing healthcare personnel and others during their vaccination visit.

Your unvaccinated child should stay home for 5 days and continue to wear a mask for 5 days following quarantine. For the most updated guidelines on quarantine length, please visit the CDC website.

During the quarantine period, watch for symptoms of COVID-19 and keep your child away from any members of your household who are more vulnerable to a severe case of COVID-19 due to underlying conditions or due to being unvaccinated.

If your child has tested positive, they should wait to be vaccinated until they are symptom-free and have met the criteria for discontinuing isolation. For more information on what isolation means, the 10-day minimum isolation period and how to calculate that period, visit the CDC website.

If your child was recently treated for COVID-19, or if they have a history of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), you may need to wait to have them vaccinated. Talk to your pediatrician if you are unsure.

Once your child ends isolation and is no longer contagious, they can get their vaccination. This also applies to people who get COVID-19 before getting their second dose of vaccine.

Yes. Getting COVID-19 offers some protection from future illness with COVID-19, sometimes called natural immunity, but the level of protection you get from COVID-19 infection varies based on multiple factors, according to the CDC.

There is no test that can reliably determine if a person is protected from infection. Getting a COVID-19 vaccination offers a high level of protection against COVID-19, even in people who have already had the virus. Emerging evidence shows that getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection to your immune system. One study showed that for people who already had COVID-19, those who do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more than twice as likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get fully vaccinated after their recovery.

If you or your child were treated for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults or children (MIS-A or MIS-C), you may need to wait after recovering before getting vaccinated. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Yes. The clinical trials from all three vaccines showed that they’re safe for people who have already had COVID-19. People should get vaccinated regardless of whether they’ve had COVID or not, although they should wait until they’ve recovered and are no longer contagious. (And if you were to get the virus after their first vaccine dose while waiting for the second, wait until after you've recovered to get the second shot.)

Early on, some experts previously advised people who had a COVID-19 infection to wait 90 days before getting vaccinated; however, this recommendation was only based on having a limited supply of vaccines. This waiting period is no longer recommended.

Anyone who has had COVID-19 should still get vaccinated and should do so as soon as they are out of the isolation period and no longer contagious.

Though there are several different kinds of vaccines, they all work by helping your body identify a virus or bacteria (germs) and create an immune response to it – without having to get sick.

COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies develop immunity (protection) to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 without us having to get the illness. You can learn even more about how the COVID-19 vaccines work with our immune systems from the CDC.

Vaccine ingredients are publicly available. To learn more about the ingredients in all the vaccines, you can look at the FDA fact sheets for Pfizer, Moderna, and the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccines. Vaccine ingredients can differ by manufacturer. None of the COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. (Pfizer vaccine, Moderna vaccine and Johnson & Johnson vaccine) have eggs, preservatives or latex in them.

Modern vaccines available today only include the ingredients they need to work effectively and safely. That means each ingredient has one of three purposes: 

1. Providing protection (immunity). 
2. Keeping the vaccine safe and long lasting. 
3. Producing the vaccine itself.  

You can learn about the types of vaccine ingredients from the CDC.

Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines use a technology called messenger RNA (mRNA). Some types of traditional vaccines use parts of the virus that are dead or weakened to get the immune system ready to fight the germs. But mRNA vaccines don’t do that. Instead, mRNA tells our cells what to build inside themselves so that our cells can then teach our immune system to protect us from the virus. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

The advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they’re faster and cheaper to make. The main downside is that mRNA vaccines need to be stored at cold temperatures, which makes it harder to get the vaccines to where they need to go and for storing them. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first mRNA-based treatments ever approved, but the science behind them is based on decades of research on this type of vaccine.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle for the immune system to find.
2. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the immune cells, the cells use them to make a harmless piece of protein called “spike protein.” This spike protein is found on the outside of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
3. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them.
4. Next, the cell displays the protein piece on its surface. Our immune system knows that the protein doesn’t belong there; it starts building an immune response and making antibodies, like what happens in natural infection with COVID-19 except without the actual virus.
5. At the end of the process, our bodies have learned how to recognize the virus, which helps the immune system protect the body against future infection.

The benefit of mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is that those vaccinated gain this protection without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19.

It likely depends on how long it takes for your body to complete the process of responding to the vaccine and creating an immune response. In general, medical experts agree that it is not long — likely within hours.

mRNA is basically a set of instructions. Once your body has read those instructions, it gets rid of them.

No. The COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with our DNA in any way. mRNA never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA (genes) is kept. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Serious side effects that could cause long-term health problems are very unlikely after any vaccination, including COVID-19 vaccination. According to the CDC, vaccine monitoring has historically shown that side effects generally happen within 6 weeks of getting a vaccine dose. For this reason, the FDA required each of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to be studied for at least two months (8 weeks) after the final dose. Millions of people in the U.S. and billions around the world have received COVID-19 vaccines, and no long-term side effects have been found.

The CDC and FDA continue to closely watch the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. If medical experts find a connection between a safety issue and a vaccine, the FDA and the vaccine manufacturer will work toward an appropriate solution to address the specific safety concern (for example, a problem with a specific lot, a manufacturing issue, or the vaccine itself).

So far in the U.S., the FDA has given emergency authorization to three vaccines for COVID-19 and full approval to two in certain age groups.

mRNA vaccines

The first emergency authorization came in late 2020 from pharmaceutical-maker Pfizer. A second authorization for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was close behind. Millions of people in the U.S. and billions worldwide safely received these vaccines.

On August 23, 2021, the FDA granted its full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for people 16 and older, now be marketed as Comirnaty.

On January 31, 2022, the FDA announced its full approval of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, marketed as Spikevax, for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older.

Viral vector vaccine

In early 2021, the FDA issued emergency authorization for a third vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (sometimes called Janssen or J&J) for people 18 and older. This vaccine is one dose, and a booster with Pfizer or Moderna is recommended.

After careful study, in April 2022 the CDC revised its guidelines for using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to the risk of rare but serious adverse events, about 3.8 cases per 1 million doses. In most situations, Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are preferred over the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. The J&J vaccine was never authorized for use in children.

Find a comprehensive overview of the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the CDC.

For over 30 years, medical experts and researchers have been studying mRNA vaccines as a way to stop other types of infections and cancers. Scientists also used their knowledge and experience about similar coronaviruses that cause diseases like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) to help jump start their research on creating vaccines against COVID-19. This means that they were ready when COVID-19 became a pandemic in 2020.

Additionally, thousands of medical experts from around the world were all working on the same problem at the same time, increasing the chance of successfully coming up with safe and effective vaccines. A lot of money was invested to solve this problem quickly to help keep people and communities safe.

Remember, vaccines have historically been remarkably safe and effective, and they’re the single best way to prevent infectious diseases. We need vaccines to stay safe. This is true for COVID-19, and dozens of other vaccine-preventable diseases from polio to measles to the flu.

In the U.S., more than 590 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for well over a year. Of those, more than 11 million doses have been given here in Colorado. We have lots of information and experience proving the safety of the currently authorized vaccines, including for kids. Please be sure to speak with your healthcare provider if you have any questions or concerns about your personal risk.

Pediatrician Lisa DeCamp, MD, answers this question in the video below.

During a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA for short, can issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) to make new medicines, devices, tests and vaccines available for use. The COVID-19 vaccines went through a very intense development process by the manufacturers. The process included tens of thousands of study participants to collect the information the FDA needed to complete a thorough evaluation of the vaccines.

For an EUA to be issued for a vaccine, the FDA must determine that the “known and potential benefits” of the vaccine are greater than the “known and potential risks” of the vaccine. In other words, they look at all available scientific data to determine whether the vaccine offers more protection than risk when given to an otherwise healthy person.

To earn full FDA approval, vaccines must meet an even more stringent and extensive set of standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality. Pfizer has met these standards for their COVID-19 vaccine for people age 16 and older, and Moderna for people 18 and older.

Authorities chose to pause distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April 2021, after the CDC’s alert system identified a rare clotting disorder in a small number of people in the weeks after they received the vaccine.

“In some ways it was an indication that the system is working right,” says our Chief Medical Officer David Brumbaugh, MD, “because it gives us the opportunity to see this cluster of cases and understand what happened.”

During the proactive pause, investigators compared the rate at which this clotting disorder occurs in people who received the vaccine versus people who didn’t; they concluded that this adverse event is associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine but remains very rare, occurring at a rate of about 7 per 1 million vaccinated women between the ages of 18 and 49. This adverse event is even more rare for women 50 years and older and men of all ages. The overall risk for the adult population is about 4 per 1 million vaccine doses.

“It takes a lot of hours and data crunching to be able to make that determination,” Dr. Brumbaugh says.

Vaccine trials include tens of thousands of people and are able to find the most common side effects, but sometimes very rare side effects are not identified until after vaccines have been given to hundreds of thousands or millions of people. This is why the CDC and FDA continue to monitor vaccines closely after authorization and approval of vaccines. The CDC has since updated their vaccine safety guidelines for the J&J vaccine.

It’s possible. COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the CDC and FDA, and reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination are taken very seriously.

If you experience any adverse events after any vaccination, report them to v-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Learn how vaccine safety systems work.

Fortunately, the COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available. Here are a few resources so you can find a location near you, when you’re ready.

Ask your doctor

Many primary care offices now have the COVID-19 vaccines, including pediatricians.

Text to find appointments near you

Text your ZIP code to 438-829 to find appointments in your neighborhood.

Vaccine providers in Colorado

Find a complete list of all vaccine providers in Colorado, including public vaccination sites and mobile clinics.

At Children's Colorado

Now that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are authorized for all children 6 months and older, Children's Colorado will host the State's vaccine buses at several locations during the summer of 2022.

If you or someone you love needs a ride to a vaccine appointment, free rides are available:

Colorado

• Mile High United Way’s Ride United program is providing access to free rides (up to 25 miles each way) to vaccination sites across Colorado. Dial 2-1-1 or visit 211colorado.org to learn more.

Lyft

• Lyft: Ride-sharing company Lyft is offering discounted or free rides to vaccine appointments in many locations. Visit their website to request a free or discounted ride.

Home-based vaccination

You may also be eligible to get vaccinated in your own home, though it may take more time. To learn more, call Colorado's vaccine hotline at 1-877-CO-VAX-CO.  An agent can help you register for an in-home vaccination.

You don’t need insurance or ID, and it does not cost you any money to get the vaccine.

No - the COVID-19 vaccines are free. You don’t need insurance or ID, and it does not cost you any money to get the vaccine.

If you or your child misplaced your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, you may be able to request a new one from your vaccine provider. However, there are also easy ways to get your proof of COVID vaccination online and on your smartphone.

In Colorado, you can request a digital copy of your COVID-19 immunization record in two ways:  

1. Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS): The state health department maintains an immunization record tracking system, the CIIS Public Portal, where patients and their legal guardians can view, download and print their full immunization record, COVID-19 record and a COVID-19 QR code for vaccine passports.
2. myColorado Mobile App: You can also download an app to access and save, myVaccine Record, which provides a QR code/digital copy that you can add to your smartphone wallet or save to your phone’s photos.

Please note: If you were vaccinated at Children’s Colorado when we were a mass vaccination site, please use MyChart or one of the options above; we do not have additional or replacement vaccine cards.

If you or your child received a COVID-19 vaccination at Children's Colorado, you can download the proof of vaccination through MyChart. All Coloradans can download proof of vaccination via the myColorado app from the State of Colorado.

MyChart

If you have a MyChart account

Use our tip sheet to learn how to download your proof of COVID-19 vaccination:

• Tip sheet: MyChart COVID Vaccination History

If you do not have an existing MyChart account

If you scheduled your vaccine appointment through our online portal and do not have a MyChart account, please call the MyChart help line. We'll help you set up an account so you can download your proof of vaccination.

To reach the MyChart help desk, please call 720-777-6939 and request to activate a MyChart account. The help desk is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

myColorado app

myVaccine Record allows you to access, refresh and download your digital COVID-19 vaccine record. We recommend trying this first so you can keep the information handy in your smartphone wallet.

Some vaccination providers offer access to a QR code, or digital proof of vaccine, in addition to the physical CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card.

Colorado patients can request a SMART Health QR code and a digital version of their COVID-19 immunization card through both CIIS and myVaccine Record.

No, it’s not possible to get COVID-19 from a vaccine. None of the COVID-19 vaccines have the live virus that causes COVID-19. Because it activates your immune system, you may feel some side effects like fever, chills and fatigue.

COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for and can be given to most people with underlying health issues. There is no evidence to support that the COVID-19 vaccine will make your health condition worse.

According to the CDC, clinical trials showed similar safety and effectiveness in people with some health conditions compared to people without. In fact, your health conditions may put you at greater risk for getting very sick with the virus that causes COVID-19, and it may be especially important for you to get the vaccine. If you have questions about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, you should talk to your doctor for advice. For more information, visit the CDC’s webpage Vaccine Considerations for People with Underlying Medical Conditions.

In November 2021, the FDA and CDC signed off on the Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds after a historic clinical trial with more than 4,500 participants, including 252 kids right here at Children's Hospital Colorado.

Who participated in the trial

Children’s Colorado was the largest study site in the country for Pfizer’s clinical trial investigating the safety and immune response of their COVID vaccine in kids ages 5 to 11. Before the trial began in the summer of 2021, families representing approximately 5,000 children expressed interest in joining the trial here. We then reviewed the eligibility of those who expressed interest, and ultimately enrolled 252 participants through our site. 

How the study worked

Each child was randomly assigned to receive either the study vaccine (2 out of 3 participants) or a placebo (1 out of 3 participants). They received 2 injections approximately 3 weeks apart. Neither the family nor the doctors knew whether the child received the study vaccine or placebo until their follow-up visit six months after the second injection.

When the vaccine was authorized for this age group in November 2021, trial participants were “unblinded,” and participants who received the placebo were invited to receive the vaccine at Children’s Colorado.

While experts have enough data to determine that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks, we’ll continue to learn more as this and other clinical trials progress. Over the course of two years, trial participants will have scheduled follow-up study visits and will track any changes in their child’s health in an electronic diary. This exact process is taking place at study sites across the world.

Results of Pfizer’s clinical trial in kids 5 to 11

Pfizer's study demonstrated that a schedule of two 10-microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine (equivalent to one-third of the dose for older children and adults) given 21 days apart was found to be "safe, immunogenic, and efficacious" in children 5 to 11 years of age.

In other words, the two-thirds of trial participants who received the vaccine reported no serious adverse events and showed robust immune response, and the vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. The trial findings were presented to the FDA, CDC and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

If a potential treatment is shown through clinical trials to be safe and effective, the pharmaceutical company then submits all their trial data to the FDA. The FDA reviews the data and decides whether to approve the treatment — meaning it decides whether the company can sell the treatment to the public.

In addition to internal review by staff at the FDA, the FDA also has an external group of experts called the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC for short. The committee is made up of 15 outside experts in virology, epidemiology, biostatistics, microbiology and about a dozen other related fields. All of its members are thoroughly vetted for potential conflicts of interest and are not beholden to political interests. In general, without the VRBPAC approval, the FDA doesn’t approve.

If the FDA approves of a new vaccine, it then goes to the CDC, which decides whether to recommend it in the U.S., and for whom. This step is an important one for vaccines, since healthcare plans are required to cover vaccines with no deductible under the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called Obamacare). That coverage doesn’t happen without a CDC recommendation.

Like the FDA, the CDC has a review process conducted by a panel of vetted outside experts removed from political pressure, this one called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. (Their meetings are free and open to the public.) Children’s Colorado infectious disease specialist Sean O’Leary, MD, MPH, is a part of this committee as a representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have already gone through that entire rigorous process — and any other vaccines that might be approved in the future will go through it too. Visit the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccines Explained webpage for more information.

“As Black Americans, our mistrust of the healthcare system is valid,” says Brandi Freeman, MD. “Medicine has a long history of mistreating us, and the harm is well documented — from first-hand accounts of enslaved people to The Tuskegee Experiment of 1932 to unacceptable disparities that still exist today including Black maternal and infant mortality and the negative health outcomes that are directly linked to systemic racism within the healthcare system.

"Through the Children’s Colorado Child Health Advocacy Institute, we’re working to provide personalized care and resources that put our needs as Black Americans first, helping protect our families so we can thrive. Children’s Colorado recognizes it has a lot of work to do and a long way to go.”

The currently authorized and approved COVID-19 vaccines have gone through a rigorous process to prove both safety and effectiveness. Safety monitoring is ongoing, even after millions of people have received these vaccines.

As you continue to research the COVID-19 vaccines and deliberate whether getting the vaccine is the right decision for you and your family, it may be helpful to have access to resources curated by Black people for Black people.

COVID-19 resources in partnership with the Black Coalition Against COVID

BlackDoctor.org, or BDO, is the world’s largest and most comprehensive online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans. The Black Coalition Against COVID (BCAC) and BDO have partnered together to create a space to help our Black Community fight back against the coronavirus. The Blackdoctor.org COVID-19 Resource Center can serve as your jumping off point, but here are a few additional notable resources:

• A Black woman scientist played a key role in the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Meet Kizzmekia Corbett, PhD.
• Dr. James E. K. Hildreth, a Black immunologist who serves on the FDA committee that authorized both Pfizer and Moderna's shots for emergency use in the US, says the COVID-19 vaccines are “nothing like Tuskegee.” Read why.

We're pleased to make COVID-19 vaccine information available in multiple languages through the following fact sheets:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Burmese
• English
• Nepali
• Somali
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

Information about the COVID-19 vaccines in Spanish is also available on this website.

Please note: These fact sheets were updated in January 2022. Recommendations can change quickly in a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. Please follow all rules and guidelines set by your state and local public health and safety authorities, and visit CDC and CDPHE for the most updated information.

We recommend the following trusted sources for additional information about COVID-19 vaccines:

• Vaccine FAQs from Immunize Colorado 
• Vaccine FAQs from CDPHE 
• Facts about the vaccines from the Colorado Vaccine Equity Taskforce 
• Key things to know about the COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC