9 Comments
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Katelyn Jetelina

Thank you! Paid subscriber here. I thought I read somewhere that mRNA vaccines in teens aren’t waining as much as adults, (comparing the same amount of time from vaccination). (Pfizer) Is this true? Thank you! Stay well!

Expand full comment
author

ohhh interesting. I don't know if that's the case. remember that adolescents/teens got the vaccine much later than adults did. so it might just be that we haven't seen the waning yet; not enough time has passed.

Expand full comment

I guess depends on the kid? Mine at 16 was able to get Pfizer early on as a home health caregiver (for me). The allowed that certification with screenings in the Chicagoland area. So 2nd vax was mid March. Her pediatrician won't test her spike protein numbers (by Roche) to see the changes. I've had mine done 3 times. My dr want's me to wait on booster (which I agree with now, as the flu shot gave me the armpit issues and much more). Thank you!!

Expand full comment

Thank you for your fast follow up. I watched the meeting today and your thoughts always help me understand everything more clearly. Some of that discussion was wonderful and some of it was frustrating to listen to! I am crossing my fingers for these next 3 hurdles and am realllllllllly hoping shots in arms will be a reality soon. Thank you so much for all your work, you are amazing!

Expand full comment

🤣 "Ingestion of a penny". I wonder how many of the adult/adolescent trial members reported this "adverse effect" not linked to the vaccine.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for all the info. My 11 year old is getting the shot nerves on top of the vaccine excitement😁. I’m also super interested in the conversation about the 10/11 year olds. Do we know if the kids who got Covid were adult sized vs kid sized? Pre-pubescent vs starting puberty? My 11 y/o is 170 pounds and 65 inches with an autoimmune disorder. Is there any way to tell if the vaccine worked? Does antibody testing mean anything significant? His immunologist said his company won’t let him give the vaccine off label and referred to pediatrician to try and Peds said “we’ll follow FDA guidelines”. Do you see any possibility of any sort of exceptions or antibody testing recommendations?

I’ll be so thankful for anything for him (even with having to increase his meds and expecting some increased urticaria per his immunologist)… but it would be really really helpful if it actually worked 😭

Expand full comment

I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to tear up with some happy tears. We have waited soooooooooo long for this day to get my 11 yo vaccinated like the rest of us. I saw there was a part where they were mentioning that should 11 yo wait and just get the full dose. I see why the question was asked, but since my son's birthday is in October I'll be damned if we're going to wait a year to get him vaccinated. According to my Canadian in-laws, one of the things they are doing in some provinces in Canada is that kids can get the vaccine in the year that they turn 12. So that would mean that my son (if we lived in Canada) would be able to get the original dose on Jan. 1st since he would turn 12 in Oct. 2022. My thought is that we'll be first in line for the 5-11 year dose. If i'm reading the data correctly, even at the lower dose there was still a strong immune response in 11 yos. I would assume that at worst, we would just need to get a booster 6 mos. in or so. Thoughts? I just got my booster last week and let me tell you I was down for 3 days with body aches, BUT, I'm fine now:) AND, I would get it again in a heart beat. I just kept telling myself that this was good and that it was a sign that my body was mounting a stong immune response. YAY science:)

Expand full comment

Do you have any information about when/how the efficacy of the vaccination kicks in for the 5-11 age group? I remember when I first received the vaccination in January that something like 85% of the efficacy of the full vaccination protections would be in effect [two] weeks after the first shot, and then the full 100% would be in effect [two] weeks after the second shot. I'm wondering if the same/similar is true for kids.

Expand full comment
author

yes the same is the case with pediatric vaccines. two weeks after the second dose they will be fully protected. we don’t have the data on the efficacy after first dose just yet. i would assume it’s about the same

Expand full comment